Peterborough MP Andrew Pakes has called on the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority Mayor to find common ground with Peterborough City Council over the thorny issue of introducing free parking in the city.

Labour MP Mr Pakes has written a letter to Mayor Paul Bristow urging him to “get round the table” and strike a deal with the city council after it was reported £471,000 had been earmarked by the Mayor for free parking in Peterborough this year.

This amount, Mr Pakes observed, was less than the figure pledged during last year’s Mayoral elections.

“Now we know how much subsidy is available for free parking this year, it is time to end the delays and to get negotiations back on track,” he said.

Free parking in Peterborough has become a thorny issue

placeholder image — Free parking in Peterborough has become a thorny issue

“The money is a lot less than the £1.5 million promised, but we can surely still get a deal agreed,” he added.

Talks between the Mayor and the city council have stalled following three attempts to find common ground.

Replying in a letter of his own, Mr Bristow said it was “a pity” Mr Pakes had not checked the combined authority’s published budget figures:

“From CPCA’s press release alone, you might have seen that I allocated ‘£1.5m million over two years to support bringing in free parking schemes in Peterborough city centre and Huntingdonshire’ – not £1.5m a year, just in Peterborough,” he said.

Mr Bristow also took the opportunity to point out that “Both Peterborough City Council and Huntingdonshire District Council are currently in the middle of elections.”

“Once the public has finished having its say, I will be talking to both councils about how free parking is introduced,” he asserted.