ANGRY residents have hit out at Wiltshire Council for providing free parking for its staff at Lovemead Car Park in Trowbridge.

The council announced in February that it would be bringing in a new electronic permit system at County Hall to allow people to park in designated visitor bays for up to two hours.

However, the changes, which were brought in after complaints from library users about staff using visitor bays, has resulted in the council allowing staff to use Lovemead for free.

Michael Lojko, who owns antiques store The Old Sweet Works in Church Street, Trowbridge, has paid £160 a year for the past 15 years to park at Lovemead, which has been near full since the new system was brought in on Monday.

He said: “I was wondering why it was so full and I couldn’t believe it when I found out. That is the most cars I have seen in Lovemead for years, as they charge a lot to park there, so it is

usually empty.

l Continued on Page 3

“I pay £160 a year for a residents permit to park there and it would be ridiculous if I couldn’t get a space, because it is full with Wiltshire Council staff, who are not paying anything to use it.

“It costs around £6 to park in Lovemead for the day at the moment and there were probably around 60 or more cars there every day this week and that money adds up, so how can the council afford to lose out on that money?

“Just because they have moved their premises to County Hall and didn’t have enough parking spaces, shouldn’t mean they can just allow staff to use a car park for free that everyone else has to pay for. We pay our council taxes, but it seems to be one rule for them and one rule for everyone else.”

Mr Lojko added that by allowing staff to fill up Lovemead, the council is taking up spaces that could be used by shoppers, which will put trade in the town centre at risk.

The new electronic permit scheme allows priority users to use the free parking at County Hall by registering their vehicle in reception using the designated screens, stopping visitor spaces being occupied by other vehicles.

Philip Whitehead, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for highways, said: “County Hall is a community space and we want to encourage more people to drop in. However we know that a barrier to this has been the lack of available visitor parking spaces at County Hall.

“The changes we have put in place have seen the situation improve greatly for visitors, while making use of an underused car park in the town.

“We hope it will be a boost for local businesses, as many members of staff will now walk through the town on their way to and from work. We will be monitoring the situation.”