Parking stories in the News/media

Nellymoser

The Porthleven campaigner who set-up the petition said he was "absolutely overwhelmed" after Cornwall Council announced it would scrap the transfer of council-owned car parks to a private company.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwye9jvx021o

Nellymoser

Protesters win long battle to stop ANPR car park at beach - for now

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/protesters-win-long-battle-stop-061700975.html

Persistent protesters in Cornwall appear to have won a long-fought battle to stop a Cornish landowner installing an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) car park at an isolated beach.

However, if the private estate does not make £1,000 by the end of the year from what is now a “normal” car park with no enforcement, it will go ahead and install ANPR cameras and signs.

ParkingMad

Another Co-op car park infested by One Parking Solution in Manor Parade, Durrington, Worthing. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqjzq7v0w9o.amp

BBC News, Worthing

9 August 2024

Shop owners say they fear losing business and closure because of customers boycotting a private car park which has been fining people up to £100.

There have been complaints about the Manor Parade car park, in Worthing, which is managed by One Parking Solution.

Businesses said a new camera was installed last month which led to the fines.

“We saw a dramatic reduction in our takings the first week that this parking enforcement started.”

“I have seen online that people are boycotting the businesses because they pop into Co-op and receive a fine. If they boycott the shops small businesses like myself will have to close.”

Landowner W R Roffey Ltd said One Parking Solution recently upgraded the camera.

James Whitaker, director of W R Roffey Ltd, said: "Following complaints from shopkeepers that cars were being parked there all day, we introduced cameras more than three years ago to limit the time parked there to three hours, in order to find a reasonable balance.

Nellymoser

Driver Sam Surridge has blasted a 'disgusting' ECP pcn which claimed he had parked for six hours in Tybridge Retail Park - he'd been there just 20 minutes. His doorbell footage proves it.

The 61yr old said "There is no way that photo could have been taken when they say it was taken." 

"This is either a system error or it is fraud."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fined-spending-six-hours-car-040000527.html

It took almost 2wks before Sam received the pcn giving him just 3 days to pay the reduced amount (£60) or appeal before ECP returned the charge to £100.

"But the worrying part is what if I did not have a Ring doorbell which captured when I left and came home?"

Too many system errors show ECP lacks the skills required to use ANPR in their car park management. A simple ban on ECP using ANPR is all that is required to address this problem surely MHCLG can see that.

Nellymoser

There's a growing number of council U-turns on parking being reported. Are Councils finally listening to the public and traders?

Two years ago Tameside's 42 P&D council car park tariffs were increased from £1 to £3.50 for 3hrs.

Motorists having been ignored voted with their wheels and went elsewhere. Visits to one car park fell by 20% and shops saw their takings collapse.

Now the council has "reflected" and 2hrs free parking has been introduced.

One trader said: "It's the best thing that could have happened right now, the only downside to me is it's taken longer than everyone would have liked."

The council will be hoping it's not too late to entice the gone elsewhere motorists back.

https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/articles/cdj9k31y8rlo

Coupon-mad

Nellymoser said:

There's a growing number of council U-turns on parking being reported. Are Councils finally listening to the public and traders?

Two years ago Tameside's 42 P&D council car park tariffs were increased from £1 to £3.50 for 3hrs.

Motorists having been ignored voted with their wheels and went elsewhere. Visits to one car park fell by 20% and shops saw their takings collapse.

Now the council has "reflected" and 2hrs free parking has been introduced.

One trader said: "It's the best thing that could have happened right now, the only downside to me is it's taken longer than everyone would have liked."

The council will be hoping it's not too late to entice the gone elsewhere motorists back.

https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/articles/cdj9k31y8rlo

And this is what is happening to every High Street, partly at the hands of councils but also due to private parking scammers using CCTV and ANPR 24/7 which is illegal (not even the police can do this for parking issues, let alone Councils) but nobody has curtailed this excessive camera misuse - yet - by a known rogue industry.

Nellymoser

A Harpenden Town Council is considering legal action over on-street parking charges because of their impact on local businesses.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g9py0rnrlo

St Albans City and District Council, confirmed it had received a formal legal letter from the town council.

Coupon-mad

Nellymoser said:

A Harpenden Town Council is considering legal action over on-street parking charges because of their impact on local businesses.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g9py0rnrlo

St Albans City and District Council, confirmed it had received a formal legal letter from the town council.

Wow. This is worth pointing to in the upcoming Public Consultation.

Great evidence of how bad parking regimes kill high streets, even when the tariff is only £1.50.

Even though these latest two articles don't involve PPCs, they both demonstrate the extreme and noticeable damage to high street retailers when a parking regime uses apps that marginalise older people and where complying is so difficult and complicated that it puts off passing trade altogether.

If the MHCLG can recognise this is a problem then what exactly do they think unchecked 24/7 ANPR with machines designed to trick people into getting £100 'fines' is having?

Talk about a deterrent...

Coupon-mad

Another day another ANPR double dip:

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/25261224.dorset-man-charged-going-mcdonalds-twice-morning/

"Stewart Dawson, 47, made two trips to McDonald’s in Ferndown on June 16, and days later he received an unexpected letter in the post.

At around 7.30am, he took his 16-year-old son to school for his final day, having completed his GCSEs. They stopped at the fast food restaurant for a toffee latte on the way in and Mr Dawson dropped his son off, planning to pick him up when he was finished at 11am.

He headed home and then returned, with his partner, to pick up his son from school. With it being in a convenient location when travelling from their home in Wimborne, the couple decided to get a coffee from McDonald’s on the way back to the school.

Mr Dawson was greeted with a parking fine posted through the door, charging him £100 for parking at the restaurant for more than three hours, registering his car entering the restaurant in the first visit and leaving during the second visit".

ParkingEye yet again.

Whatever happened to their 19 human checks?

fisherjim

Confused.com try to produce a helpful article but it looks like a confused mishmash and they drop the F word in the wrong place when talking about supermarket car parks:

Operators might ask motorists who wrongly use disabled bays to move and they can also issue fines.

https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/parking-questions-answered?lid=8udo0z5ogzig&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=Nurture&utm_campaign=Cnvs_Confused_Nurture_Non-Specific_Newsletter_Champion&utm_content=Non-specific_June25NewsletterPet_Champion&utm_term=20250623