Bedford Borough Council’s Liberal Democrats have ‘moved the goalposts’ on their supposed car parking charge freeze, according to Conservative Cllr Roger Rigby.
At the beginning of January it was revealed that the Liberal Democrats have increased 41 separate car parking charges since they have been in power at the Council, despite Mayor Hodgson having said to have ‘frozen car park charges for two years’ in 2011.
After being confronted by the Bedfordshire on Sunday at the beginning of April, the Deputy Mayor has backtracked on the definition of their ‘freeze’ to refer now to ‘town centre’ car parks only, but even this claim has been shown to be inaccurate.
Cllr Rigby feels that the Liberal Democrats’ ‘con trick’ has finally been exposed. He said:
‘People using the car parks are telling us they recognise they have been conned by the Liberal Democrats as the all embracing freeze is now restricted to the ‘town centre’ only. However, even this revised ‘freeze’ is wrong as during the freeze period they have increased car parking charges at Ashburnham Road, Riverside Square and the Town Hall.
‘It is now time for Liberal Democrats to accept that their con trick has been exposed and to apologise. Whilst trumpeting their mythical ‘freeze’ they have hit residents with 41 stealth increases during their time in power. This includes 8 on street charge increases. This is driving shoppers into the arms of Bedford’s competitors and hitting residents in the pocket. We call on them to roll back the car parking increases since the beginning of the purported freeze.’