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Conservative East Herts district councillor in scathing attack on his own council over proposals which would see free parking scrapped




An East Herts district councillor has accused the council of being unable to run its car parks without losing money in a scathing attack on a local Facebook group.

John Burmicz, who was elected to East Herts Council in May 2019 as a Conservative representing Sawbridgeworth, has been an outspoken critic of the Tory-controlled council's policy on planning and said its proposed changes on parking were the last straw.

The Indie revealed last month that the council was proposing a raft of changes to parking in its car parks which would see the 30-minute grace period and free Sunday parking in Bishop's Stortford scrapped, along with free weekend parking in Sawbridgeworth.

Cllr John Burmicz is a former Sawbridgeworth town mayor. Pic: Vikki Lince. (59300100)
Cllr John Burmicz is a former Sawbridgeworth town mayor. Pic: Vikki Lince. (59300100)

In a post on the Sawbridgeworth Facebook group on Monday (Sept 12), Cllr Burmicz challenged Cllr Geoffrey Williamson, EHC's executive member for financial sustainability, to reveal the projected increase in income from the planned changes in charges and what model was used to project this additional income.

Cllr Burmicz, who is also a member of Sawbridgeworth Town Council and a former mayor, added: "If they are incapable of running the car parks, which apparently they are not able to do without losing money, then they should leave it to the town or parish councils to run them with fewer people and more efficiency."

He has been critical of the council's planning department over housing projects in Sawbridgeworth – in particular the Sawbridge Park development in West Road – and revealed he had been deselected by the controlling Conservative group following his consistent outspoken comments.

Cllr Burmicz has criticised East Herts after residents of West Road suffered numerous road closures due to a new housing development. Pic: Vikki Lince. (59300475)
Cllr Burmicz has criticised East Herts after residents of West Road suffered numerous road closures due to a new housing development. Pic: Vikki Lince. (59300475)

"I'm really angry – people have been let down on West Road and the car parking. How hard do you want to kick people when they are down?" said Cllr Burmicz, who added he would stand for election as an Independent at next year's EHC poll.

The proposals for the parking changes were put out to consultation last month and drew a furious reaction from residents in both towns.

A Freedom of Information (FoI) Act request from Sawbridgeworth resident Scott Brannon revealed studies by London Councils formed part of the rationale for the proposals, which sparked more anger from residents.

Sawbridgeworth mayor Cllr Greg Rattey has led a campaign to fight the changes and has issued a FoI request to the council asking it to reveal how many complaints it has received.

He praised Cllr Burmicz for standing up for his constituents. "Fair play to John for speaking out," he said.

East Herts Council has defended its plans and the rationale behind them, saying it is "reasonable to introduce a car park charging framework where the customer pays for the services being received".



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