MONEY to install roller-shutters and stairwell gates at Aldershot’s High Street car park will be spent only if enough people use the facility at night.

Rushmoor Borough Council plans to prolong charging hours in Station Road, Alexandra Road, Grosvenor Road, Victoria Road and High Street to 10pm, in an effort to encourage people to leave their vehicles in the multi-storey.

In July, the authority’s Conservative-run cabinet sanctioned spending £30,000 on security equipment at the car park.

The council’s parking manager, Mike Bamber, said it would not be spending the allocated money immediately.

“We would look fools if we decided to leap on the idea and sanction the shutters straight away and nobody used the car park,” he said. “I know there is a security issue but at the moment we have to see if there is sufficient displacement to justify the expenditure.”

Parking permits allowing people to leave their vehicles in any car park overnight are already available, at £90 for six months.

“We decided to extend the hours of charging, as we hope that cars will move to the car parks, which we believe will improve the security of Aldershot town centre at night,” Mr Bamber explained.

“People already have the option of parking permits, which are reasonably priced.

“In the long-term we will be looking to give permit holders and people who want to use the car parks at night fobs or cards which they could swipe to get past the shutters.

“We are not going to spend £30,000 of ratepayers’ money unless we are satisfied the cash will be well spent.”

In 2006-07, the High Street car park sold 288,557 tickets, taking £256,157.71 in revenue.

Peter Catterall, who has lived in Aldershot for 30 years, feels the current poor state of the town centre has forced the council to charge during the evening.

“The car park isn’t secure now,” he said. “Vandalism and disorder happens in there. 
“The council simply isn’t addressing the problem in reality.

“It’s not right to see if there is a sufficient habit change in parking before introducing security measures.

“That car park is already blighted by people causing trouble and to put more vehicles in there without proper security doesn’t make sense.”

Mr Catterall, who lives in North Town, said the council’s policy was ‘extremely short sighted’.

Rushmoor’s car park made a £300,000 profit in the last financial year, a fact that Mr Catterall found hard to swallow.

“If they make such a profit then I don’t see why they can’t spend £30,000,” he added.
“The council knows what it gets from central government and taxpayers and therefore has to find other ways of making money.”

Mr Bamber denied that the plans were merely a money-making exercise.

The authority was meeting the objectives of the Rushmoor Crime and Disorder Strategy to improve the management of Aldershot’s night-time economy, he added.

The High Street car park could become popular during the evenings as more and more flats were built into the town.