Council chiefs have defended plans to spend several hundred thousand pounds replacing signs in council-owned car parks after criticism from opposition leaders.
North Yorkshire Council is set to spend more than £2m improving its car parks across the county.
A report into the work said the improvements included replacing signage, which was installed by the previous borough and district council when they ran the car parks, at a cost of £400,000.
A further £400,000 is set to be used to improve the lighting in car parks.
Green Party group leader, Councillor Kevin Foster, this week raised concerns about the level of spending at a time when the authority is having to use money from its reserves to balance its budget.
Cllr Foster said:
“I am very concerned that the council is considering using £400,000 from the local government reorganisation underspend on infrastructure for parking that includes all machines.
“I agree lighting should be looked at as the safety of residents should be a priority.
“I just hope some of the money is not spent on replacing the new logo on signs that was introduced in the new council.”
Cllr Foster said he had previously urged the authority to only replace the logo of the former local authorities with the new authority’s branding when items needed replacing.
In response, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Councillor Keane Duncan, said the investment of more than £2m in the authority’s 176 car parks was “much-needed”.
He added:
“This will involve the installation of 430 new parking machines to make these easier to use for customers and more efficient.
“It will reduce costs by making parking paperless and ensure that every machine in the county can accept card, cash and app.
“We are also investing £400,000 to upgrade lighting in car parks. This will make the lights more reliable, deliver savings on energy costs and improve safety.
“We will also seek to introduce 345 updated signs with fittings. This is not an optional rebranding exercise – it’s a legal requirement following the establishment of the new council.
“While we are required to update the signs, we are seeking to do so by limiting costs as much we can.”
Cllr Duncan said the initial cost of £400,000 predicted for the new signage had been revised to around £270,000 which he said averaged at £783 per sign.
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