THE Royal Borough is predicting a £1.7m blackhole just two months into the financial year due to low parking income – but senior councillors don’t regret introducing the one-hour parking discount.

The council is forecasting their parking income could see a £1.3m hit as car park levels have not reached pre-pandemic levels and issuing season tickets is declining as people swap to hybrid working.

However, finance officers are yet to review the income received during the four-day Platinum Jubilee celebrations last month where it has ‘undoubtedly led to increased income,’ the report states.

Officers are predicting several hundreds of thousands of pounds in other areas impacting the council’s finances, totalling £1.7m, caused by rising costs, inflation, service demand, and the legacy of Covid.

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Earlier this year, the council introduced a parking discount that gives residents one-hour free at selected car parks across Royal Borough via the RingGo app.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Jul 21, council leader Andrew Johnson (Con: Hurley & Walthams) said he “doesn’t regret” bringing in this scheme and will continue to look into expanding it to other car parks.

He also said the figures are just predictions and could change overtime as they are picked up very early in the current financial year.

Cllr Johnson said: “We have been here before. 12 months ago, we were predicting an overspend of £1.2m but we clawed that back. I remain confident we will get to a position of delivering close to balance by the end of this financial year.”

But Cllr John Baldwin (Lib Dem: Belmont) said the situation is “grave” for the local authority to be already forecasting a £1.7m just two months into the financial year.

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He was also “extremely concerned” about a new contract, which went live in April 2022 to maintain the borough’s trees, which may already be £237,000 overbudget. He feared it suggests “serious flaws in the commissioning process”.

Cllr Baldwin said: “We need some real-world proposals here and not just wishful thinking. If we whistle past the graveyard and allow this situation to continue to develop, I simply don’t know where we will end.

“The figures could be even more ugly than they look at the moment.”

Cllr Johnson replied by saying he has heard “fantastic prophecies of doom about additional cuts” before and have “never” come true.

Cllr David Hilton (Con: Ascot & Sunninghill), lead member for finance, said the contractors have nine months to bring that overspend back into budget and is confident it will be.