Walk through Burslem on an average day, and you can cross the road without looking - and without fear of being hit by anything other than wind-blown rubbish.

On a really bad day, there is but one outlet that has any customers - the Post Office can have queues snaking down the street.

Burslem is a town of empty, boarded-up shops. Even the supermarkets have closed. At times it can seem to be a ghost town. The City Council professes to want to regenerate Burslem - they started with Ceramica, and now are creating studio-shops, but no real retail space. The public, or, more accurately, the mobile public, choose to shop in Tunstall or Hanley.

Many Boslemites feel, rightly or wrongly, that the Council has a mysterious vendetta against Burslem - from their refusal to grant Marks & Spencer planning permission to build a store in the 1960s right through to their current policy of siting all retail development in Tunstall and nothing but housing in Burslem, and their failure to refurbish and reopen the indoor market.

No-one seems to want to visit Burslem. The Ceramica flop has proved that. But the Council, in their desire to promote the town, have decided to penalise any potential visitors with parking charges.

To test the spirit of the Council's post-2008 election promises to listen to the people, we would like to start a campaign to replace the parking meters with a different method of parking control - one that does not slap a financial penalty on people for visiting the town, and encourages first-time visitors to enter at least one local shop.

In other parts of the country, especially in market towns, councils do not have parking meters for town centres and on-street parking. Rather they use parking discs. These are very similar to the discs used by blue badge holders, but they are not blue and usually have some advertising on the outside. The disc illustrated below comes from North Yorkshire.


When someone parks their car in a disc zone, they dial in their arrival time, throw the disc on the dashboard and go. After two hours they must move their car, or risk the wrath of he, or she, who was once known as a Traffic Warden.


But how does this scheme encourage people into local shops? The free discs are only available in shops in Burslem - nowhere else. People who are using the scheme for the first time, or those who have lost or damaged their discs, must go into a shop to get one. The public then has up to two hours to visit other shops in Burslem - something that at present costs £1.60 (if you have the right change!). This £1.60 is then available to be spent at local businesses.

There are currently twenty-three parking meters in Burslem. They raise revenue for the City Council; how much is debateable, as the wise are currently taking advantage of free parking at the old Kwik-Save sites.

Where is this revenue spent?
Probably anywhere but Burslem - and certainly not on improving public transport!

Is there any benefit from the meters accruing to the people and traders of Burslem?
No.

Are the meters detrimental to trade in Burslem?
Almost certainly - shoppers will go elsewhere rather than pay for parking; casual visitors are discouraged from stopping.

The City Council says on its website:
"We developed our approach to parking and enforcement in the city in line with Government requirements and our Local Transport Plan. With this approach we hope to:

• help regenerate the city;
• improve traffic flow and reduce traffic congestion;
• improve the quality, reliability and access to public transport;
• improve the local economy and consider the needs of local residents, shops and businesses;
• improve road safety and help reduce casualties;
• improve environmental conditions in the city;
• maintain mobility and access facilities for disabled people; and 
• encourage more cycling, walking and other environment-friendly transport."

In Burslem, it is doubtful if any of these criteria have been met:

• parking charges have helped to degenerate the town;
• they have not improved traffic flow - many cars are parked on double yellow lines, so obstructing traffic flow;
• public transport in Burslem is a disgrace - it is expensive, irregular and does not go directly  to the places many want;
• charging for parking most certainly has not improved the local economy, and certainly, when introduced, was strongly against the wishes of local residents, shops and businesses;
• parking charges have probably had no effect on road safety, except in a negative manner;
• no effect on environmental conditions other than making Burslem a ghost town;
• cars illegally parked for a short time on pavements or on yellow lines to avoid payment of charges cannot maintain mobility and access facilities;
• the charges do nothing other than encourage people to use their cars, if they have them, to go to Tunstall or Hanley.

It may take a leap of faith to consider Burslem to be a market town, but, historically, that is what it was. We in no way intend to try to destroy the Federation of the Six Towns, but something needs to be urgently done to revive the fortunes of Burslem. The removal of all twenty-three parking meters in Burslem can be nothing but beneficial to the inhabitants, shops and businesses of the town.

We challenge the City Council to listen to what the people do and do not want, and to act accordingly.