A NEW scheme to rid the town centre car parks of homeless people and drug users could be introduced in the spring.

Swindon Borough Council has renewed its vow to make the car parks cleaner and safer by ploughing £160,000 into a new refurbishment scheme, subject to a public consultation next month.

And they are addressing the problem homelessness by sending in teams to encourage and help them find alternative accommodation at shelters and hostels.

At a cabinet meeting earlier this month, Conservative councillors agreed to increase car parking charges in the town centre. Despite criticism of the price hike, they say the money will be pumped back into an initiative to ensure the car parks are "brought up to scratch".

Oliver Donachie, the cabinet member for the economy and skills, said: “In speaking to people over the years, the main thing they want is to be able to walk through a clean and safe environment, and that’s the important thing.”

The plan is to increase the price of short-stay parking at the main multi-story car parks by £1, and 10p per hour at other car parks.

The council will then allocate a budget of £160,000, funded from the increase in charges, to fulfil the criteria laid out in the Town Centre Car Parking Strategy, which aims to “improve the quality of the car parking experience by tackling anti-social behaviour and other environmental factors to make Swindon’s car parks more attractive to use”.

This will mean carrying out regular cleaning routines and addressing anti-social behaviour that can occur as a result of homelessness.

Three full-time staff will be hired “to support an enhanced cleansing regime” and £70,000 will be made available to help the council work with the One Swindon Partnership to tackle homelessness.

Kevin Gwilliam, the general manager of The Brunel Centre, earlier this month claimed the extra parking costs would result in fewer people visiting the town centre.

“We believe this move will negatively affect footfall and sales,” he said.

But he added that he fully supported the council’s bid to make the car parks more attractive, saying he “welcomes the news that the town centre car parks will be cleaned up and measures taken to combat anti-social behaviour”.

Coun Donachie added: “We are not profiteering, we are taking a small amount of money and putting it into a scheme to make it better for everybody.

“People want to feel safe and to know the homeless are getting help.”

He also stressed that, compared with other towns of a similar size, Swindon was, generally speaking, quite cheap to park.

Earlier this week, council leader David Renard tweeted that it had cost him £8 to park for four hours in Milton Keynes.