Parking in Ludlow

Correlation is not causation: the effects of austerity, the culpability of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, and the lack of analysis in The Ludlow Advertiser.

The front page headline story in the Ludlow Advertiser (May 30, 2019) screams that the town is 'At breaking point' due to the local parking charges. Mayor Tim Gill discusses how much business revenue in the centre of Ludlow has dropped distressingly in recent months.

It is heartbreakingly true that many shops and businesses in the centre of Ludlow are experiencing a serious, concerning, and damaging drop in customers. This is an issue that does merit complete and honest discussion.

Ludlow should never have been made subject to the larger parking charges. Residents, businesses, and visitors have a right to feel betrayed by the way in which the changes were introduced.

However, to take one event - the increase in parking charges - and link the drop in business solely to that one specific 'cause' is disingenuous and based on an incomplete analysis that belies a deep political truth.

Let us examine the issue further, with some added points for consideration and a dash of joined-up thinking.

Firstly, small businesses are losing custom all over the country, not just Ludlow.

Austerity policies, introduced by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government has meant that between 2010 and 2019 more than £30 billion in spending reductions have been made to welfare payments, housing subsidies, and social services. Year on year, local governments are being pushed to make cuts upon cuts upon cuts - until even the most basic essential services are coming under threat. Their need to raise revenue, as a result of underfunding from Westminster, leads to higher council taxes, parking charges, and business rates - which also negatively affect the small businesses in Ludlow.

The population of the UK, as a whole, has less disposable income than previously. Austerity has a knock-on effect that takes years to filter through the system in some areas. Right now, it is hitting Ludlow - although some local businesses have been noticing the steady drop for the last two years or more, since before the increased car parking charges were introduced.

Many of the shops in Ludlow centre are somewhat specialised, and deal in what are considered by many to be luxury items/services. These will be the ones to suffer most when people are trying to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads. Online shopping for every available item is now often cheaper and more convenient than driving to the shops. Huge corporations and chain stores are more affordable for items like clothes, groceries, and electronics.

But what about the transport and parking issue specifically?

Many who bring their cars to Ludlow to go 'family shopping' are more likely to be utilising the parking at Tesco and/or Aldi for a more affordable weekly shop.

Bus services from outside communities have been savagely cut. Train fares are rising and unaffordable for many, not to mention the inconvenience of a service that suffers from too few trains, overcrowding, infrequency, and regular delays.

Who was it who sold us the lie that rail privatisation would lead to better, more efficient, and cheaper services?

As a sideline to the issue of how public transport affects local businesses, how are local councillors (who are often so keen to tout their 'green credentials' in the local media) reacting to the Climate Emergency? Shouldn't they be trying to reduce personal vehicle use, moving away from encouraging local car use, and looking for ways to balance the needs of local businesses with accessibility by more ecologically sustainable public transport?

The cuts to local bus routes (as with the parking charges themselves, and also upcoming council tax changes that will hit the worst off in our community the hardest) are also directly due to the consequences of austerity policies and the constant underfunding of local budgets from central government.

Austerity policies, and their consequences, lay squarely at the feet of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

And yet, The Ludlow Advertiser completely fails to mention the political basis of the issue in their leading story. They fail, again, to analyse the deeper underlying political issues and place the blame where it is due.

There may be a correlation between parking charges and the drop in business revenue. The parking charges may indeed be having a negative effect on shopping in Ludlow. However, many places around the country have both larger and smaller parking charges, and are still also facing a drop in revenue.

For the causation we must trace events back to the unnecessary, destructive and vicious austerity policies that are driving UK communities into economic depression.

Ludlow is not immune. – Keir Hardie's Cap