Among the changes that the Isle of Wight Council floated last night at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in their list of proposed budget cuts was that low-emission cars would lose the benefit of free parking on the island that was originally introduced with some fanfare.
Instead, owners of these cars would have the option of buying the newly-priced £200 resident permits, or pay the proposed 10% higher parking charges.
Quite a change from when ‘Eco Island’ ruled the roost. In the council’s own in-house One Island magazine in April 2008 the IWC were highlighting their “Green initiative,” in a piece headlined “Free parking scheme encourages low emission cars.”
It ends, “The initiative is already proving popular with drivers who want to do their bit for the environment and save money at the same time.”
Eco Island action
When an Island estate agent bought eleven low-emission cars for their staff, they were quoted as saying that they had “been particularly impressed by the IW Council’s ‘Eco Island’ strategy.
Their spokesperson, Richard Dickson, went on to say, “we’re pleased to be doing our bit for the environment, particularly when this is supported by free car parking in any Council car park for vehicles with such low emissions.”
Island companies would be hit too
It’s not just owners of low-emission cars that would lose out on this, companies like the Snows group would also lose out on sales advantages for their BMWs, as would Wight motors, private people selling their low-emission cars and tourist locations like Dinosaur Isle listing free parking as a benefit of visiting.
Comments welcomed?
As these budget cuts are deemed as ‘proposals’, we assume there’s an opportunity for the residents of the Island to pass comments to those who are making the decisions.
