BUSINESS leaders in the heart of York have joined forces to demand action to prevent the life being squeezed out of the city centre’s economy.

York Chamber of Trade is calling for City of York Council to scrap a two-tier parking system which forces visitors leaving cars in the city’s central shopping zone to pay more than residents.

It fears the current process risks portraying York as having an “apartheid” parking approach which gives an unfair advantage to out-of-town retail parks and will “suffocate” city centre access, possibly forcing firms to move out, although their claims were treated with scepticism by the council’s city strategy leader Steve Galloway.

In a letter to the council signed by 29 businesses, the chamber describes the city centre, especially its pedestrian zone, as “the jewel and the crown” of York and proposes bringing parking fees into line with those offered by competitors.

They said York, like Edinburgh and Bath, was growing in international popularity, but that the pedestrian zone remained “extremely fragile” against new destinations and the wider economic climate.

The chamber's letter added discussions about new developments away from, or on the edge of, York city centre invariably emphasised the need for free and/or easy parking, and claimed that focus contradicted the council’s focus. They also said the discrepancy created a concern throughout the city’s professional, financial, cultural, heritage, hotel, continental café, restaurant, university, education and retail sectors.

The chamber called for a pay-on-exit parking system and for new retail developments on the city’s edge to be “closely knit” to the centre. “We cannot be in a position where the city centre is ignored or taken for granted,” said chamber chairman Adam Sinclair.

“We are concerned about intended city centre traffic schemes which will suffocate accessibility by car while there could be new car-friendly retail developments several miles away. We want a level playing field, but at the moment people are being told York does not welcome cars.

“Other areas have said they regard York as having almost an ‘apartheid’ approach to parking, where visitors feel alienated. People must realise York cannot just be tinseltown or a tourist trap. It needs a lifeblood of regional visitors. He said there was a danger companies could move out of York, adding: “What we have in York is very special but also very vulnerable.

“It needs special support and nourishing.”

Coun Galloway, the council's executive member for city strategy, said a report on York’s future retail strategy highlighted the city centre’s “unique leisure and shopping combination” and added that research by the authority had shown motorists can find a “convenient space on virtually every day of the year”.

“The chamber have traditionally taken the stance outlined and they are entitled to make representations on planning applications and in response to the consultations on the Local Development Framework, which will be a blueprint for future development in and around York,” he said.