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Shopkeepers in Penzance protest against high car parking charges

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Busaholic

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You may be interested to know about a day of action (a strike, in effect) by a group of SHOPKEEPERS being proposed in Penzance. We (I am one of them) are so fed up with our unitary council in Cornwall imposing increased car parking charges way beyond the inflation rate, while at the same time allowing out-of-town retail developments with free parking, that we intend to close our shops for a day and, shopkeepers and shopworkers in unison, go and picket County Hall. Whether it will have any effect at all I don't know but I predict a fair bit of publicity if we play our cards right. Only independent shops will take part, and I expect a lot won't for fear of ...what? but a good time should be had by all.
 
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Kite159

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You may be interested to know about a day of action (a strike, in effect) by a group of SHOPKEEPERS being proposed in Penzance. We (I am one of them) are so fed up with our unitary council in Cornwall imposing increased car parking charges way beyond the inflation rate, while at the same time allowing out-of-town retail developments with free parking, that we intend to close our shops for a day and, shopkeepers and shopworkers in unison, go and picket County Hall. Whether it will have any effect at all I don't know but I predict a fair bit of publicity if we play our cards right. Only independent shops will take part, and I expect a lot won't for fear of ...what? but a good time should be had by all.

Councils see motorists as cash cows and when wonder why car park revenues have fallen and independent shops which make a town close down, and replaced with chain stores to turn the town centre into just like every other town centre.
 

richw

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You may be interested to know about a day of action (a strike, in effect) by a group of SHOPKEEPERS being proposed in Penzance. We (I am one of them) are so fed up with our unitary council in Cornwall imposing increased car parking charges way beyond the inflation rate, while at the same time allowing out-of-town retail developments with free parking, that we intend to close our shops for a day and, shopkeepers and shopworkers in unison, go and picket County Hall. Whether it will have any effect at all I don't know but I predict a fair bit of publicity if we play our cards right. Only independent shops will take part, and I expect a lot won't for fear of ...what? but a good time should be had by all.

Penzance is expensive even by Cornwall's standards to park.
I parked in wharf side car park all day on Sunday 19th April for the bus running day. Cost me £6.40, on a Sunday. To compare I parked all day in Falmouth this Sunday just gone and it cost me roughly £1.50 I think(can't remember exactly as I used change, whereas I had to use ring go in Penzance). Redruth is free to park on a Sunday.
All your proposed action is going to do is lose your trade. The big stores will still be open so the customers will still be there, just your shop won't be. You'll be only ones losing out as the shoppers will still pay to park etc.
I understand in Falmouth and Redruth the town councils and have other organisations have subsidised the council to cover towards parking to reduce the price. Falmouth was bustling on Sunday. Redruth is typically quiet still as very few shops open on Sunday.
 

Abpj17

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You may be interested to know about a day of action (a strike, in effect) by a group of SHOPKEEPERS being proposed in Penzance. We (I am one of them) are so fed up with our unitary council in Cornwall imposing increased car parking charges way beyond the inflation rate, while at the same time allowing out-of-town retail developments with free parking, that we intend to close our shops for a day and, shopkeepers and shopworkers in unison, go and picket County Hall. Whether it will have any effect at all I don't know but I predict a fair bit of publicity if we play our cards right. Only independent shops will take part, and I expect a lot won't for fear of ...what? but a good time should be had by all.

The campaign sounds pretty illogical (and you've not been clear on what you/the strikers want to change?)
(Making a few assumptions)
- Out of town retail developments will be private; if car parking is charged it'll go to the shops/owner of the estate
- Town centre car parks will be council run - you ought to find out if they are cost-recovery, or profit taking. Are they being charged to incentivise use of public transport? Or to ease town centre congestion? Or to cover costs / avoid tax increases/subsidy from taxes?

Your best bet would probably be to go for a scheme where parking is free for the first 30 -60 minutes, or a scheme where there is free parking/parking discount if a purchase is made in a participating (independent) shop / or a discount against public transport etc.
 

Kite159

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It's like cities deciding to introduce parking charges for parking late evening/overnight, for no other reason to make additional money from motorists who park in the city centre in order to attend a show. Example is Southampton.

I better not give Wiltshire council any ideas, they already have traffic wardens out and about as late as 10pm, ready to catch anybody else who dares park on double yellow lines outside a takeaway
 

Bletchleyite

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I better not give Wiltshire council any ideas, they already have traffic wardens out and about as late as 10pm, ready to catch anybody else who dares park on double yellow lines outside a takeaway

Then don't park on double yellow lines. They aren't there for decoration, they're because if you park there you are in the way.

Find somewhere else to park. It's easy not to get a parking ticket, I've never had one. You simply don't park illegally.
 

Kite159

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The problem arises from when that area was previously Single Yellow Lines with the restrictions ending after 8pm, some people still think it's fine to park there, as they are too lazy to walk from the nearest legal parking area to get their fish and chips.

I tend to keep the car where I've parked it (station car-park on saturdays, street parking Sundays) and walk the 5 minutes down if I need food after a day out.
 

Bletchleyite

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The problem arises from when that area was previously Single Yellow Lines with the restrictions ending after 8pm, some people still think it's fine to park there, as they are too lazy to walk from the nearest legal parking area to get their fish and chips.

Then they get fined, and we laugh because they were just being lazy and got their come-uppance :)

I'm no great fan of traffic wardens hiding out to catch people for staying 30 seconds over their ticket or similar, especially when they can be seen to be returning to their car. But if you park somewhere you clearly shouldn't - even more so if it's a disabled space or similar, I have no problem with tickets being slapped liberally around.
 

Rapidash

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I would imagine one of the reasons that prices are high in Cornwall is because they only get something resembling operational costs/profit out of them for 5 months of the year, if that. Half the year, there's no charge at all in most coastal towns/beaches.

'tis the trouble with a small population so spread out along the fringes - you can't focus all your eggs in one basket, even if it was more efficient.
 
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bussnapperwm

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Then don't park on double yellow lines. They aren't there for decoration, they're because if you park there you are in the way.

Find somewhere else to park. It's easy not to get a parking ticket, I've never had one. You simply don't park illegally.

Well said that man!

The amount of times I've seen buses having to lose time because if inconsiderate parking. We need to declare War on Illegal Parking
 

richw

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I would imagine one of the reasons that prices are high in Cornwall is because they only get something resembling operational costs/profit out of them for 5 months of the year, if that. Half the year, there's no charge at all in most coastal towns/beaches.

'tis the trouble with a small population so spread out along the fringes - you can't focus all your eggs in one basket, even if it was more efficient.

This would make sense if it was the same in Penzance, Falmouth, Truro Newquay etc. Falmouth, Truro and Newquay all have reduced tariffs on a Sunday and evenings. Penzance charge full rate. They are all ran by Cornwall council.
 

Pigeon

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Then don't park on double yellow lines. They aren't there for decoration, they're because if you park there you are in the way.

That's how they should be used, but all too often they are put down purely to force people to use expensive car parks. Like in Droitwich when they started charging to use the formerly free car parks and put down double yellows everywhere so people had no choice.

In Bedford they introduced a controlled parking zone scheme, and in another example of the endemic incompetence which characterises Bedford council they screwed up the legalities of it with the result that for a while none of the parking restrictions were enforceable so you could park anywhere you wanted. This was reported in the Beds on Sunday, so everyone knew about it, and surprise surprise the place did not grind to a halt.
 

Tetchytyke

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Yep, that's what Newcastle City Council did. You used to be able to park for free on the street on Skinnerburn Road, just past the Quayside. So nobody used the multistorey car parks that were £4 a day.

Now it is all double-yellows and the multi-storey is up to £6 a day. Just fancy that.
 

PHILIPE

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It's the same everywhere. Councils bleat about empty shops and talk about promoting the High St yet seem to be in denial, or don't want to know, that parking charges are one of the main problems.
 

bussnapperwm

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It's the same everywhere. Councils bleat about empty shops and talk about promoting the High St yet seem to be in denial, or don't want to know, that parking charges are one of the main problems.

In Dudley we only pay £3.50 for all day parking! It's cheaper than some of the other council areas nearby
 
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Busaholic

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When the District Councils were replaced by the unitary Cornwall Council several years ago, some things were standardised (E.G. refuse collection, so the councils that had provided wheelie bins like Penwith, to combat the seagull menace, had them replaced by the old system of bin bags that councils like Carrick in Truro, without the seagull problem, had always operated) but other things like car parking charges were left much as they were, which meant St Ives had the highest charges of all with Penzance not far behind. In the years since, car parking charges have on the whole increased by the same percentage rates, so the places that had the highest charges have only had those exacerbated. However, certain exceptions and exemptions have been applied in response to individual councillors who seem to have more influence, so some places have free parking after 4 p.m or much reduced rates on Sundays. East Cornwall seems to have the most free or cheaper parking and it gets steadily more expensive as you move west.

I haven't the time to post more on this at present, including attempting to answer some of the points raised, but will do so in due course.
 

83G/84D

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Some car parks also have an increase the charges in the summer when the tourists are visting then reduce them again in winter.
 

D6975

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First let me say that I don't own a car and don't drive.

In Bristol there are large areas near the city centre with parking meters. They charge something like 20p for 12 minutes.
The outrageous thing is that the charge is payable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Any yes, there are traffic wardens patrolling late at night.
 

bnm

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On street parking is free in Bristol on Sundays. The CPZs are either 0800-1800 (part of the outer zone) or 0800-2359 (central zone, inner zone and part of the outer zone). Not 24/7.
 
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Dave1987

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Then don't park on double yellow lines. They aren't there for decoration, they're because if you park there you are in the way.

Find somewhere else to park. It's easy not to get a parking ticket, I've never had one. You simply don't park illegally.

Except when you have a blue badge which to some blue badge holders means they can park anywhere they like regardless of the chaos it causes! I do sympathise with the shops though. Our council has introduced a Park and Ride scheme which is great. BUT it is being advertised as being free as an "introductory rate". No doubt after a while the council will see that as a cash cow and start charging massive amounts to park at the car park and then charge a large amount to travel on the bus into town. Exactly the same thing happened in the town I used to live in in the Midlands. And then the Council wonders why their town centres are turning into ghost towns and the out of town shopping centres are thriving.
 

Busaholic

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On street parking is free in Bristol on Sundays. The CPZs are either 0800-1800 (part of the outer zone) or 0800-2359 (central zone, inner zone and part of the outer zone). Not 24/7.

Bristol certainly had traffic wardens issuing tickets at 10 and 11 p.m. back in the mid 1980s when I lived there.

Croydon has parking restrictions until 2 a.m. in parts with the staff to enforce them (but a lack of police for the emergencies, I;ve been told by friends/family who live there). Priorities!
 

cb a1

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Croydon has parking restrictions until 2 a.m. in parts with the staff to enforce them (but a lack of police for the emergencies, I;ve been told by friends/family who live there). Priorities!
According to a quick google search, parking in Croydon is decriminalised; i.e. it's got nothing to do with the police.
 

neilmc

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I do own a car but never use it to drive into Manchester, or indeed any surrounding town for these very reasons. And we don't go to any major centre in the Lake District as many places there will charge several pounds to stick a car in a potholed layby with no facilities which would be free anywhere else.
 

Busaholic

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According to a quick google search, parking in Croydon is decriminalised; i.e. it's got nothing to do with the police.

It's public money, so a choice is being made what to spend it on. Police can and do issue tickets for parking on double yellow lines, in Croydon and everywhere else. I got one myself years ago, hoist on my own petard you might well say, when the then Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall paid his only known visit to Penzance while on duty, on a Saturday night after I'd complained about lack of police on the streets. So many other police accompanied him on what, of course, proved to be an abnormally quiet night, that some of them started issuing tickets to alleviate the boredom, and I paid the price.:)
 

Bevan Price

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The problems are
1. Most towns were not designed to contain cars.
2. More people wish to park than there are available spaces.
3. The main choices seem to be :
(a) Destroy the town environment by providing huge multi-storey car parks, and bulldoze the town centre to provide new roads.
(b) Curb parking by painting lots of yellow lines.
(c) Provide cheapish out-of town park & ride.
(d) Make parking unaffordable to discourage use of cars in town centres.

As others have commented, (b) & (d) help to kill town centre shopping areas, but few places adopt (c). One exception is Chester, which has several park & ride sites, and many of the city centre shops seem to be thriving.
 

Rapidash

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Exeter is another example of P&R working - all 4 seem to be pretty busy, and the city centre is usually heaving with shoppers. Admittedly Exeter has a slight advantage over Penzance in that its has prestige shops drawing in people from several counties, and, uh, isn't at the literal bottom of the country.

Never had to use the ones for Plymouth, though. do they have much success?
 

Mojo

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Bristol certainly had traffic wardens issuing tickets at 10 and 11 p.m. back in the mid 1980s when I lived there.

Bristol no longer has any Traffic Wardens. In fact I cannot remember the last time I saw a Traffic Warden in amy major city; probably in Cardiff which decriminalised parking at least 5 years ago (maybe even more), or maybe a few years ago when there were a handful in London patrolling the red routes.
 

Busaholic

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Exeter is another example of P&R working - all 4 seem to be pretty busy, and the city centre is usually heaving with shoppers. Admittedly Exeter has a slight advantage over Penzance in that its has prestige shops drawing in people from several counties, and, uh, isn't at the literal bottom of the country.

Never had to use the ones for Plymouth, though. do they have much success?

Penzance was supposed to get a P&R when Sainsburys were allowed to build on the heliport site, but nods and winks put paid to that. There is some grandiose scheme afoot to transform the St Erth Station area to a giant park-and-ride, supposedly for both Penzance and St Ives - the whole thing stinks, De Lorean cars in Northern Ireland had a better business case!

I don't go to Plymouth very often these days, so don't know how successful P&R is there, but I believe I read the Milehouse one has had a recent frequency increase. One of the others (the George?) is close to Derriford Hospital with its high car parking charges for visitors and staff alike, so may in part be used as a more-affordable alternative.
 

richw

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I've just got home from North Devon after a few days camping up there with the kids.
In Barnstaple I paid £1.60 for 24 hours in a North Devon council car park.
In Ilfracombe it was a flat £1 an hour rate with a maximum daily charge.
Both town centres were very busy.
 
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