Comment – Bill McCarthy

The financial crisis engulfing Birmingham City Council and the hugely unpopular measures like charging at some beauty spots, including Sutton Park, have sparked fury, but have been years in the making.
The council’s incompetence, financial mismanagement, and failure to fix pay inequality has left council tax payers facing huge increases and a broken trust in the authority.
On top of this, it’s quite something when a Labour administration, which in the past has run the city well, appears to want to screw its workers – in the past with pay inequality – and now with the binmen and women.

It began more than 20 years ago when the council refused to face down the binmen, allowing pay awards which left female-dominated roles like dinner ladies, cleaners, care workers behind, paid less than male-dominated jobs like binmen, street cleaners, for work of equal value.

This led to massive compensation claims as the council failed to address this disparity for years, leading to around £1.1 billion in equal pay liabilities – the biggest factor in the council’s financial collapse.

The list of incompetence could go on, but the parking issue strikes home for a number of reasons  and the anger stems from several key issues.

Birmingham residents see the parking charges as a not very efficient money-grab, targeting ordinary people, rather than fixing the council’s real problems.

Anger at parking ‘stealth tax’

• These parks have been free for decades and residents see this as a “stealth tax” to plug the council’s financial black hole.

• The parking fees are expected to raise only £2-3 million a year, a pittance when compared to the council’s budget shortfall and  equal pay scandal.

Punishing visitors and impacting health

• Families, dog walkers, and hikers who rely on parks for physical and mental health, exercise, and affordable outings now have to pay just to park – denying a taste of nature in an urban environment
• The council promotes green spaces for wellbeing, yet makes them harder to access. Some areas lack good public transport alternatives, forcing people to drive and then pay. A double whammy, which penalises lower-income families who can’t afford extra costs.

Empty parks and lost business

• Cafés, visitor centres, and sports clubs inside parks could lose customers and the park see fewer visitors generally, which has been noted elsewhere with similar schemes in the country.

Other parking problems with displacement
If drivers avoid paid parking, they’ll clog up nearby residential streets, creating nuisance for locals.

Tin eared response

Despite petitions including one gathering thousands of signatures against Sutton Park charges and concern from local councillors and MPs, the council seems out of touch, ignoring protest and pressing ahead.

The largely cosmetic consultation until the end of August is unlikely to see any movement, but we live in hope, so signing is a good idea.