Central Milton Keynes parking permit price hike to be 'phased in' by council
The new proposal will see commuter permits rise from £1,125 to £1,688, while low carbon vehicle permits will increase from £75 to £195 and multi-occupancy permits from £30 to £80.
Councillor Liz Gifford defended the proposal to increase parking permits for commuters, low carbon vehicle permit and multi-occupancy vehicle permit and said: "Centre MK has an offer that appeals to people and makes them want to visit the area, irrespective of the cost of parking."
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Councillor Gifford claims she did not ignore the voices of CMK workers as she has altered the permit increases through the "phasing in" process.
She added: "What we want from the money putting into the transport fund is to maximise the quality of the road network."
However conservative councillor John Bint opposed the proposed increases and urged Councillor Gifford to consider the lower income workers based in CMK.
He said: "You [the labour administration] have no idea how much these increases are going to hurt people, even though they have been here and told you.
"You have continued to ignore them."
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Leader of the Conservative party Edith Bald, added: "This is nothing but a money making incentive, it is clear that no cooperation has happened and the phasing proposal is still too much.
"My plea is start listening to the employees and stop these increases."
Despite a hefty turn-out at tonight's council meeting, Councillor Gifford went forward with the decision to increase CMK parking permits.
Councillor Gifford added: "Increasing in-commuting puts pressure on the local road network and ways to manage this have to be considered.
"The local economy overall will not be adversely affected by further fee increases."