FAULTS at a town centre car park have cost the district council more than £18,000 in lost revenue.
A technical issue at Walton Street car park has meant the barriers have been raised at the multi-storey since February 6, while Aylesbury Vale District Council was waiting for the contracted suppliers to fix the fault.
The external suppliers will not be held accountable for providing any compensation however, and the council will also have to pay for repairs.
So far, the fault has cost the council an estimated figure of £18,200 in revenue.
Mike Smith, district councillor for Coldharbour, works in the building next door.
“I just think perhaps the council should have foreseen this kind of thing happening,” he said.
“I can’t understand why, if it’s someone else’s fault with the equipment, if they can’t fix it right away they aren’t made to pay any compensation for the loss of revenue.
“The total sum of £18,200 doesn’t sound a great amount, but when you look at the cuts the district council has been forced to make this year, there’s an awful lot of very good things that could be sustained with that income.
“I just hope the council learns its lesson from this, and that precautions are taken at other car parks.”
When questioned on the issue, Stephen Harding, parking services manager, said the authority was working hard to resolve the issue.
“We are aware that the car park barriers have not been working properly for a few weeks and we are making every effort to restore them to full working order,” he said.
“Unfortunately the system controlling the barriers has failed and the supplier has been waiting for the parts to repair it.
“We hope that the barriers will be fixed and operational this week.
“The district council will be required to pay the repair bill.”