(Title Image: Bridgend County Borough Council via Twitter)
Bridgend Council’s Cabinet is set to discuss a report which suggests introducing a charge for users of the Bridgend town centre shopmobility scheme (pdf).
At the moment the scheme – based at the Cheapside multistory car park – charges a refundable £2 deposit-per-hire for users, who are provided with a mobility scooter. The report says most users of the scheme donate the deposit anyway.
The net operating cost of the scheme is £30,700 a year, with around £7,300 worth of deposits donated. The scheme is used around 4,000 times a year.
Based on a consultation which ran during 2018, officers propose:
- Introducing a non-refundable charge of £3-per-hire, which would raise around £12,000 a year.
- Introducing a £5 annual membership charge, raising £1,000.
- Shortening shopmobility opening times to 09:15-16:00, saving £10,000 a year.
- Seeking £5,000 a year in external grant money (though this could be interpreted as seeking a contribution from Bridgend Town Council too).
If the Cabinet agrees, the new fee structure will be introduced from 1st April 2020
