A councillor has questioned the value of new data on car parking in Lichfield city centre.
A survey carried out by Lichfield District Council has revealed that hundreds of spaces in city car parks sit empty on weekdays.
It also found that the Birmingham Road multi-storey, which is earmarked for demolition this year, is “significantly underused”.
The survey – which covered a one week period between 26th February and 3rd March – was carried out following changes to car parking charges earlier this year which also saw the reclassification of some car parks as either short or long stay.
Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall, cabinet member for visitor economy and the high street, said the data would help with future planning.
“The survey highlights that while certain car parks experience higher demand, there remains sufficient capacity within other car parks that are just a few minutes’ walk away.
“Now that we have this detailed data, we will make changes to car park as long or short stay in order to make it easier for residents and visitors to park.
“We will continue to monitor use of the car parks and will adjust as required to ensure they meet the needs of our community.”
Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall
But Cllr Dave Robertson, deputy leader of the Labour group on Lichfield District Council, said the data did not answer questions he had previously posed on how the changes to fees had impacted on the city centre more broadly.
“This statement focuses on how many car parking spaces are being left empty – but empty car parking spaces are not a sign that changes to car parking charges are encouraging people to visit the city.
“I have been asking for information about the number of parking tickets sold by the council in 2024 compared to previous years for over a month now, and have still not been given this.
“It begs the question, if the new car park charges are so good, why aren’t the council measuring the number of tickets being sold to prove it?”
Cllr Dave Robertson
Cllr Robertson also questioned why the data had not been shared with among members of the local authority before being publicly released.
“It is absolutely contemptuous that Cllr Silvester-Hall has put this report into the press before sharing it with councillors as she committed to at council just two weeks ago.”
Cllr Dave Robertson
Cllr Silvester-Hall told Lichfield Live:
“Cllr Robertson announced at full council, through a supplementary question, that he had requested information specifically from officers for which he was still awaiting a reply.
“In response, I considered that if this had been the original question, I would have been able to provide the information readily. As it wasn’t, the sharing of this information was requested.
“Since then, I also contacted officers to establish the process of fulfilling such actions arising from full council and was informed this process was being dealt with. I am confident in future it will be.
“Of course, Cllr Robertson can always contact me directly and I will of course be happy to arrange for the provision of information which collectively supports managing the efficient and effective use of the council-owned car parks in and around the city.”
Cllr Janice Silvester-Hall
