Parking stories in the News/media

Nellymoser

Me too 😂

I wouldn't expect you C-mad to reveal what's been said during your Steering Group meetings and nor should anyone else.

And your right, MHCLG hasn't given any indication publicly where it presently sits on debt fees or pcn cost issues.

The only known facts currently are Labour plans to raise standards of practice across the private parking industry, a new CoP is a comin in "due course" and the BPA recently publicly warns of “unintended and avoidable consequences” from adopting a new private parking CoP.

kryten3000

North Berwick residents hit back at council installed payment meters

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c204p0pprvxo

Kaizen2024

And people wonder why some locations are phone payments only.

Nellymoser

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904818#Comment_81904818

Yes it made it onto Scotland's TV news. A bit sad Kaizen2024 didn't get the gist of the story…he seems to think it was mindless vandalism when it looks more likely to be a public protest.

Oh I remember the poll tax days back in 1989 Mrs Thatcher's refusal to listen and implement an extremely unpopular charge lead to her losing her PM job.

Bazarius

That’s what happens when the council ignore the petition opposing the changes - if you have a quarter of locals being over the age of 65 and introduce complicated technology and LIMIT visits to 2 hours and 45 minutes of parking … on a high st… that’s just stupid and selfish . Makes no sense…

patient_dream

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81905070#Comment_81905070

Agreed ….. so many councils have very limited brain power, no doubt they have been talking to the BPA or the IPC

patient_dream

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904996#Comment_81904996

Yes I remember, wow, we are showing our age

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904842#Comment_81904842

We don't wonder.

We know why the parking industry want everything to be run remotely. It's cheap and causes more likelihood of PCNs.

Nellymoser

Kent Consumer Champion: KCC looks at Euro Car Parks’ contract amid county park fines anger

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/action-after-kentonline-investigation-highlights-parking-fin-337061/

Journalist Elli provides an update on keying error problems at Kent country parks and reveals FOI statistics from Jan-Dec 2025.

KCC - Is trialling upgraded pay-and-display machines, with larger screens to assist customers and reduce the likelihood of keying errors.

Their contract with ECP is due to end in April and it is reviewing all available options, and no decisions have been taken.

They get a cut of the money collected from parking fines but says it invests the funds back into the parks.

Elli covers ECP fine from the CMA and comments "So, it seems that journalists aren’t the only people ECP ignores"

Half_way

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904842#Comment_81904842

Phone/app payment only places can also easily be vandalised, or altered - see the fake QR codes in car parks scam for example.