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Barmy Wilts Council want parking charges here to subsidise Salisbury
(November 18, 2010)A FREEDOM of Information request from the BBC has discovered that every journey to Salisbury by a park and ride passenger is being subsidised by council tax payers to the tune of £1.43 per journey.
Many buses that run in from places like Wilton, the Beehive and Petersfinger carry as few as three passengers. The total bill for running the scheme is £1.2 millionbut it only removed about one vehicle in 20 from the city centre.
''Now we know what is going on,'' said former county c ouncillor Steve Dancey.
''Our political masters are planning to drain money out of their small market towns to continue their subsidy to their flagship project in Salisbury.
''Basically it stinks. Why should our hard-pressed shop be hit by this unjust tax to fund the big chain stores that dominate Salisbury City Centre.
''We are effectively being taxed through car parking charges to help fund the fat cat corporate bosses whose anonymous holding companies now own most of these city stores.''
Councillors representing small market towns should tell Wiltshire cabinet to get stuffed and refuse to back these parking charges.
Do they put the area they represent first or is their allegiance to the Conservative Party which got them all elected in the first place?