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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be getting more and more fed up with restricted parking

59 replies

JaceLancs · 04/01/2019 09:11

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

OP posts:
Houseonahill · 04/01/2019 12:01

I've never come across without the option to pay to stay longer that seems stupid. The local shopping centre by me has just brought it in where you get 2 hours free and after two hours you have to go and pay which is fair enough. Surely everywhere is just losing business now Confused

AdobeWanKenobi · 04/01/2019 12:02

Our local 'The Range' has just introduced restricted parking to 2 hours, and frankly it's absolutely brilliant. It's near the main station so previously you'd be lucky to park at all due to it being flooded with commuters. The new 2 hour limit means I can go and have a wander and a coffee and actually park on the car park.

In that case it works.

CheshireChat · 04/01/2019 12:12

I'm also puzzled why they'd limit the amount of time you can spend altogether, maybe they make more profit this way Confused.

GhostSauce · 04/01/2019 12:17

Cheaper here to get a parking ticket than pay for street parking near work!

OliviaStabler · 04/01/2019 12:30

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.

This! I lived 10 minutes from a popular station and it was incredibly hard to park even close to where I lived due to commuters and other chancers. One of my neighbours came across a family who parked in our street for two weeks as it was cheaper to park and travel by tube/ train than park at the airport.

Then the Council brought in parking permits and it is far better now. Still busy but you can park near your home.

Villanellesproudmum · 04/01/2019 12:49

Yep it’s having a negative impact on some of our businesses, well thought out Ruby the council Hmm

Op if it’s only 5 minutes you can appeal, if it’s europark, parking eye etc they are under popla guidelines and they allow 12 minutes grace. I received one recently and was 15 minutes over, I was actually in the car within time however took an important phone call which took me over. If it has been 12 minutes they would have allowed an appeal.

Villanellesproudmum · 04/01/2019 12:50

*Ruby council, love predictive text

MrsGideon · 04/01/2019 12:59

Legally though, can private companies actually enforce a fine? We had a situation last year where we parked in a pub car park and missed the sign that said we had to pay. Got a fine in the post, appealed, were still told to pay and my DP's dad told us to just ignore the letters as they can't enforce the fine. Looked it up online (gov website) and it seemed to be true...

Jocasta2018 · 04/01/2019 13:02

In towns that have it, I'm a convert to Park & Ride! Our local town in Surrey has 3 different sites and it means I visit the town much more. It's £2 per person (return), the buses drop you in the centre of town yet the buses are mostly empty and the Park & Ride car park is massively underused.
I won't even attempt to park in town now - too expensive and the one-way system's a killer. Ok the P&R takes longer and you might have to wait in the cold or wet for a bus (sob..) but it's a great resource, we're lucky to have it and I hope more people start to use it.

SushiMonster · 04/01/2019 13:07

Parking in my old city used to be free in town on a Saturday night and Sunday.

I would quite often nip into town in my car for a meal on Saturday night, and drive home again. Or nip down to the market on a Sunday and park for free.

Parking charges were introduced on Saturday night and Sunday. So no longer was I supporting the local market and food shopping there, instead parking for free in Tesco.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 04/01/2019 13:08

Ive only seen this happen in areas where commuters might park. So any retail area near a rail station. It happens for a reason - when i lived on a residential road behind shops and near a station, before parking restrictions commuters would fill every slot by 9am and leave cars all day, leaving no space for shoppers or local residents. The restrictions were welcome. I appreciate it can be difficult if you are planning a long visit to a retail park but for those rarer occasions maybe public transport is the answer.

SushiMonster · 04/01/2019 13:08

Legally though, can private companies actually enforce a fine?

Yes.

youarenotkiddingme · 04/01/2019 13:09

Totally agree.

And it's such a valid point that laid parking would solve it imo.

3 hours free then £1/ hour.

If commuters then do park there for £5 then that's their choice and it's income.

Ive often wondered how much businesses are affected by the restricted "you can't stay more than 2 hrs. Period." Compared to places with paid parking.

My local town centre introduced 5+ hours £25 parking charge about 18 months ago. I've seen a real reduction in the number of department stores in town now. No one could go and mooch as they couldn't shop and eat. It's crossed my mind whether it's parking or internet killing town centres!

GemmeFatale · 04/01/2019 13:16

Legally private companies can’t enforce a fine, it’s a parking charge and they have to go to court to enforce it.

I believe they have to show the charge is fair and reasonable and appropriately signposted (ie that you willingly agreed to the terms and conditions). So you might win that way, but you would have to engage with the court process to do so

RandomUsernameHere · 04/01/2019 13:28

It's also annoying when there is no very short stay parking. In our nearest town the minimum time period is an hour, so I have to pay that even if I'm picking up dry cleaning or something that takes a couple of minutes.

brizzledrizzle · 04/01/2019 13:30

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.

2 hours surely is plenty? It takes me 1/2 to do a weekly shop, 45 minutes at a push and so 1 1/4 hours for a coffee is plenty of time.

Basecamp65 · 04/01/2019 13:30

I think our town centre is one of the few reasonably sized towns that still has completely free unlimited parking - population 65 000 approx

Our town centre is completely dying - one of the worst I have ever seen - even McDonalds closed down.

I think parking charges etc have less impact than you would think

Hillarious · 04/01/2019 13:39

Just councils wanting to get rich basically

Do we know of any "rich" councils?

Any car parking income to councils is ring-fenced for parking/road related expenditure anyway.

arethereanyleftatall · 04/01/2019 13:42

Where they do this in supermarket car parks, i absolutely agree with them. Now, when I want to go to the supermarket, I can actually get a spot, rather than the people who are using the supermarket shop to do their supermarket shop, plus to then do all their other shopping. Rather obviously, that's very unfair on the supermarket car park and not in their interest:,

Sonders · 04/01/2019 13:43

I live in an RPZ in a part of town that is packed with restaurants and bars. The restrictions apply 9 -5, so when all the residents are at work there's plenty of room, and when they get back it's chaos again.

When the aim is to discourage car commuters working 9-hour days, I don't see what's wrong with a 6(ish) hour limit. Prevents them hanging around all day and means shoppers and visitors have plenty of time to spend money in the local economy and see friends.

However, the primary aim is to make money.

abbey44 · 04/01/2019 13:53

brizzledrizzle just because you can do your supermarket shop in half an hour doesn't mean everyone can Hmm

And as for the "use public transport" - that's ok if you have it, but there are many places that don't have decent public transport provision.

There's a pay & display car park in our local town that has the option of topping up the parking if you overstay what you originally paid for. That's useful if you have, say, a hairdressing appointment that goes on longer than you anticipate.

brizzledrizzle · 04/01/2019 13:55

brizzledrizzle just because you can do your supermarket shop in half an hour doesn't mean everyone can hmm

How long does it take? Even if I go without a list and go down each aisle it's done and dusted in 45 minutes max.

chillpizza · 04/01/2019 14:05

I’ve paid £5 for an hour parking before at a beach so if the area is good I don’t mind paying. I’ve never managed to over stay a free 2/3 hour thing as not many have a decent restaurant you would actually want to visit. The people that stay for over three hours do you actually buy much or mainly just wonder and look around with an hour long coffee break or something.

CripsSandwiches · 04/01/2019 14:14

My old street got residents parking during the day. Restrictions like that are needed because if people can legally park somewhere they will happily do so even though its obviously inconvenient for residents. My neighbour with mobility issues couldn't park within a 15 minute walk of her house during the day because people didn't want to walk 10 extra minutes to the station. When commuters were asked not to park there they shrugged and said you don't own the road I'll park where I like so know they can't park there at all.

My local sainsburys has restrictions too which is annoying when you'd like to use the cafe and do a big shop but better than not getting a spot at all because someone's decided to park all day.

HeathRobinson · 04/01/2019 14:27

I went to a local town recently that I don't normally shop at, to see an IFA. There were 3 largeish car parks in the town centre that were free and with a few empty spaces.
The High Street had some interesting looking small shops (not just charity shops like half of my home town's shops), and the High Street was bustling, even on a weekday afternoon.

I wonder if there's a connection...🤔😉

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