Goodbye to our free disc parking?
Cumbria County Council are considering the introduction of parking meters throughout Cumbria in an attempt to raise £700,000 a year. Hardly surprising, when the county needs to save £30M over three years. The Council are arguing that these changes will have to be implemented, otherwise savings would have to be made in critical services services for vulnerable people. Personally, I don't believe for an instant that these services will remain untouched.
Elsewhere in the region, Copeland Council are considering slashing free bus passes for the elderly. Now, let's think this one through. In a rural part of the country, where public transport services aren't good, one of the local Council is proposing measures which will confine the elderly to their homes. Inevitably, this will result in a loss of contact with people, an eventual reduction in elderly mobility, and a very likely increase in the need for home health visits in rural locations.
Now let's take this one on a step further, and move into NHS budget territory. Do we really think that the increased need for home heallth visits will be met by an NHS under extreme budget pressure?
Personally, I'd welcome parking meters if the County Council was able to guarantee that my 85 year old mother was able to jump on a bus to Whitehaven when she felt like it.
What do you reckon?
