I am hereby submitting a petition to Woking Borough Council to reverse the reduction in free parking at Woking Park.
The Council’s changes will adversely affect the users of
Woking Leisure Centre, of the Pool in the Park and of Woking Park
itself.
When parking charges were introduced, it was to stop people parking
all day and walking into town or to the station. Everyone
understood that this issue needed to be addressed and that parking
at the centre should be prioritised for users. Allowing three hours
of free parking achieved that – but reducing it to two hours
now turns the charges onto users as well.
There are many great activities and schemes at the centre, keeping
a broad range of Woking residents both physically and mentally
well. This reduction in free parking detracts from that experience,
not allowing for social time after sessions, as well as making it
difficult or impossible for many people to engage in more than one
activity on the same visit.
Parking remains free at the Eastwood Leisure Centre in Sheerwater
as well as at leisure centres in Guildford, Camberley and Egham, so
introducing these increased charges at Woking Park is an
unnecessary and very unhappy anomaly.
Woking Borough Council should not be putting barriers up to health
and wellbeing activity by reducing free parking by a third at
Woking Leisure Centre.
Having been contacted by some regular users of the Leisure Centre about this issue, I hope that they, and many other Woking residents, now sign up to support this Petition.
Jonathan Lord MP
Member of Parliament for Woking
This ePetition ran from 20/03/2023 to 20/03/2024 and has now finished.
574 people signed this ePetition.