To be getting more and more fed up with restricted parking

[JaceLancs]

I’m finding more and more places where I shop or meet friends, work colleagues, eat or go for coffee are placing time restrictions on parking and using ANPR cameras to monitor this
Yet they don’t give you an option to pay if you want to stay longer
Local supermarket which has a nice cafe and is part of a parade of other shops has just imposed 2 hour limit - time to shop but not eat as well
Two local out of town retail parks that include eating places now have 3 hour limits
I got ticketed recently as (my own fault) misread sign which said 1.20 - I thought it meant 120 minutes, but it was 1hr 20 minutes, I only went in 3 shops one of which was food shop and went over by 5 minutes
Final straw was this morning when one of my favourite coffee shops now has a 90 minute limit
I sometimes meet a friend there for lunch and catch up - if we are there a while usually end up having second drink
They have now lost my business
I would rather they did free for x amount of time or free if you spend so much
I don’t mind paying a little to park but hate clock watching and getting fined
I think I will have to do more online shopping which I try and avoid

Yup. It's awful in london (suburbs). And I feel sorry for the businesses who will lose customers. Just councils wanting to get rich basically

@nutellalove in London they only expect people who can walk, cycle or use public transport to use those food places if they only have on street parking. If you aren't local, meeting someone who is and have to drive then you are suppose to park near their house where they should give you a visitors parking permit.

This is to deter commuters who park all day.

Our local leisure complex introduced a 3 hr limit which went down like a lead balloon as there is a gym, two restaurants and a multi screen cinema there. So you can no longer watch a film and have something to eat. Customers and the businesses are fighting it as they don't own the land. Plus the cameras have been put up without planning permission.

It is simply driving all customers to the other cinema which has no restrictions.

This is to deter commuters who park all day

But I don't see why this is a problem. If it's safe for 4 cars to park in a space for 2 hours each, it's safe for 1 car to park there for 8 hours. I hate on-street parking restrictions which are only there to force people into council car parks. I'd prefer to pay £20 extra on council tax, have free parking in town and remove the parking restrictions from the surrounding roads. My road is about 7 minutes from town and has parking restrictions because of the local school but there are some parts of the road where you can park all day so people do. Doesn't bother me if people don't block driveways etc. But the town council has been incredibly efficient in making sure there is absolutely nowhere you can park near the railway station. Nearest possible option is a 10 minute walk away.

But what the OP is talking about is private operators, not councils. It is annoying - my local leisure centre has a 3 hour limit and people are always falling foul of it, although you can register your car reg no with reception. A local supermarket is also putting in a 2 hour restriction - just as they introduce an in-store cafe, I don't know if you can register your details with them to stay longer.

The other thing that annoys me is when the shops/leisure facilities say they can't do anything. Well of course they can. They contract the car parking enforcement to a private operator so they specify the rules. Of course they can change those rules and decide how they are implemented. Tails and dog wagging comes to mind.

As the OP says, the only thing is to boycott the businesses until they operate a sensible policy. It would be lovely if we could walk/cycle/use public transport but that's not really an option for many people.

In some instances it's annoying, ie when it's an establishment where there is shopping/eating/leisure and you don't have time to partake in more than one. The problem is that there are just too many cars on the road now and they have to have restrictions to give everyone a fair chance of using the facilities. Quite often the time limits are too short though. Sometimes though it's to stop commuters from parking all day.

My local supermarket used to have a ticket system where you could have the charge waived if you bought something in store. They altered this so that it was free for 3hrs. This was fine until the nearby retail mall increased their parking charges. Now everyone parks in the supermarket and walks down to the mall. If I want to go food shopping on a Saturday morning, I have to be out by 8:30am, otherwise there's no hope of getting parked in the supermarket.

@AmyDowdensLeftLeftShoe London suburbs are not like central London where everything is well connected. Eg to get to the next town would take over 1 hour, multiple buses, by public transport or a 15 min drive. To deter commuters parking all day there can simply be a restriction between say 2-3pm. The OP is saying they don't mind paying for parking but round here you can't even pay, it's simply 8:30-630pm resident permit holders only

@Satsumaeater You can see why businesses would prefer two or three different people to park and actually patron their shops in a day, rather than one commuter who takes up the spot all day but doesn't go into any shops

It's awful really. They wonder about the death of the high street, all the while restricting the time we spend on it.

The town my parents live it's not the best to be honest, but the biggest car park in town is now 2.5 hour ANPR. Fine if you're just visiting the superstore, or popping into town but hardly time to go round town then get a coffee or some lunch. We'll meet them for a quick coffee there, but go to nearby towns with better shops and parking for actual shopping.

I like retail parks, most of the time there are very little restrictions to parking, nothing to pay and you can go back to your car without walking through a maze after every shop to unload.

Especially the new ones, are well designed with coffee shops rather than fast food outlets.

The problem is that there are just too many cars on the road now and they have to have restrictions to give everyone a fair chance of using the facilities

Maybe in some areas but eg my local leisure centre car park is empty most of the day, it's only busy in the evenings, so no need for the 3 hour restriction.

It's difficult for everyone, not just customers. I'm sure the businesses aren't thrilled either as they'll be losing out. But on the flip side (and I know because I am one), residents are sick to the back teeth of never being able to park anywhere near their houses. At least 30% of the time, I end up parking in the next street because mine is completely full from users of local shops, cafes and offices. It's a hassle to face a five minute walk from the car when you have small children with you, ten bags of supermarket shopping or when it's pouring with rain. And sometimes there are no spaces there either so I have to drive around the block to see if anyone is about to leave, or just park even further afield.
The only answer is to encourage more people to use other modes of transport. Have you considered walking, cycling or the bus to meet your friends? I do all three much more these days because of the issues parking the car when I return home. It's a real disincentive to move it if I don't have to. Bring on controlled parking I say!

We have a new shopping complex in town here not too far from the train station. There was a delay putting in the paid parking system so parking was free for a few months. There were so many commuters parked there all day that it was impossible for shoppers to park. Every time I went in I ended up driving straight out again as I couldn't park. Now that the payment is needed it is much better. Still busy but you can actually park.

There does need to be a restriction to stop this kind of thing but they should take into account the type of businesses there.

You can see why businesses would prefer two or three different people to park and actually patron their shops in a day, rather than one commuter who takes up the spot all day but doesn't go into any shops

Yes but these roads are not right on top of the town centre. People really won't walk. It's not about the businesses, it's so the council can force people into the car parks and charge. I live close enough to m town centre to walk but when I go to a neighbouring town I obviously have to take the car (no direct bus service before anyone asks) and there is a choice of car parks. I always park in one 5 mins walk away from the town centre as it's cheaper and emptier. The ones closer are full. People don't walk, they're lazy.

My town centre is plummeting because people aren’t shopping there. How did the council combat this? By increasing the parking fee from £2 for up to 4 hours to up to £8 for 4 hours. Over 4 hours? £23!!! I went over four hours before Christmas because I was there with my mum and we had lunch and shopped. I nearly had a fit at the price.

If it's safe for 4 cars to park in a space for 2 hours each, it's safe for 1 car to park there for 8 hours.

With 4 cars each parking for 2 hours, you have 4 paying customers using the facilities. With 1 car being parked for 8 hours, you have just one potential customer, who may well be using that space as cheap parking for work and not even using the facilities that the space is intended for.

We own a high street business. All parking is residents only. We no longer have drop in customers and have to rely on email orders. It is killing us off. Staff all live out of town but luckily a resident lets us use his drive way whilst he is at work

Meet for a chat at Asda, where it's three hours, plenty of time for a good chat.

Why do you drive there OP? Can you walk or take the bus? We live in a town and get by fine without a car.

@satsumaeater you may not mind commuters or others clogging your street all day, but not everyone wants this. I too live near a station and the nearby roads have restrictions from 10-12 to stop commuters. I sometimes use the spaces and I have the option of buying a book of tickets from the council that I can scratch the relevant date off (to exempt me from getting a parking fine) or, if I want to park in the bays regularly, I can get a 6 month or 12 month dispensation by logging my registration with the council, obviously at a cost. I did this for my daughter's car as we didn't always have enough room on the drive for her to park.

One of my local supermarkets has these ANPR cameras. There’s a small soft play right next to the supermarket that uses the same car park.

The soft play have managed to get a system agreed where, if you’re doing a supermarket shop and soft play trip (so likely to be in the car park for longer than the 2 hr limit), you can give the soft play your number plate so that you don’t get fined.

It works well, means people aren’t put off using the soft play, and it’s something that more carparks should do where the car park is serving shops & cafes, or a cinema & restaurants and so on.

My town has 30 mins free on street parking right in the centre.

It was perfect for a quick lunchtime trip, dash in, park right next to the Post Office, sandwich shop, bakery, card shop, whatever dash out again. Except it was a devil to find a spot.

Then we got traffic wardens and suddenly all the spaces freed up and you can go anytime and find a space in seconds. It's brilliant.

All because selfish commuters were parking there, walking to the station and commuting away to work all day.

(Are the local happy? Of course not. now they are moaning because wardens catch them if they overstay. despite having numerous paid car parks and 3hr free parking about 5 mins away, and unrestricted just beyond that.)

My hairdresser is losing business as the parking in our town is now a maximum of 2 hours (and that costs £1 per hour). If you are having a colour, or a perm, or are wanting to use the attached beautician as well then you can’t be parked for the duration of your appointment.

I have no problem with paying to park but 2 hours is just not enough time when I can drive for less than 15 minutes to a huge mall with places to eat, shop AND get my hair/beauty done and park all day for free!

Councils are killing their own high streets.....

There's a retail park in my town that has a single point of entry/exit and a poor layout that makes it highly likely to gridlock even if there are plenty of spaces. Get your timing wrong and be parked up the far end and it can take over an hour to get out.

Cameras and charges were set up because hospital staff would use it all day and walk a mile to work because there were no other parking options nearer. There were still plenty of spaces, and the hospital shifts weren't against the traffic movement times from customers.

Apparently 3 hours is more than ample to use all the buisnesses you could want on site... except it's not worth the risk of being charged £100 for the privilage of being gridlocked into a jam. Lots of people are now highly reluctant to shop there as a result. The parking company has always steadfastly ignored the traffic problems that long pre-dated their involvement, and the local paper is full of angry customers whose appeals were rejected because the traffic problems caused the overstay.

I think these parking companies are vile, grasping, faceless leeches on a struggling retail market. And we wonder why online with home delivery is killing physical shops...

The other aggravating one is collecting a missed parcel from the RM depot. £1 for 30 mins for on street parking. No free parking for miles to just spend 5-10 mins picking up a parcel.

For better or worse we need fewer cars on the road so I don't think restrictions should be lifted (I do know some people need a car, not all though).

I'm also horrified someone thinks everyone should pay more council tax even if they don't have a car! Make road tax more expensive if anything.

I don’t object to paying for parking if it’s reasonable
My issue is with the time limits
The car parks I’m talking about in my area are out of town, not near railway station or sports stadiums etc
There is limited public transport to get to them
My job is classed as essential car user as I travel across county meeting service users and stakeholders, partners and referrers
I often go shopping on my way home or on days when I’ve had to start very early so have an extended lunch
One retail park I can think of has all your Nando’s Pizza Hut frankie and bennys as well as 30+ stores also coffee shops
3 hours means I can’t visit the stores I want and eat or have coffee