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

I can see why councils do it - much as I kvetch about parking restrictions, without them it would be a nightmare. It’s almost always commuters wanting somewhere near their work or stations, and it’s just not fair on residents.

I do agree that shopping centre car parks should have the option to pay for a little longer. Obviously they don’t want commuters paying a few quid to take up a space all day (without using the shops) but equally longer stay = more spending, surely?

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

I'd have thought so but it was upsetting people in our local FB group!

It’s almost always commuters wanting somewhere near their work or stations, and it’s just not fair on residents

But residents know the schools or stations are there when they buy the houses (although I hadn't realised what CFs some parents are, living near a school). If you live in terraced streets I think it's different but the roads I am talking about in my area are full of houses and driveways, they don't need the space outside their houses to park and in fact the streets are largely empty when I walk past.

Imarocketman50, do you live in a coastal town by any chance?
They have done this at the cinema in this town which has a gym and 2 restaurants on site), to stop football fans parking there as it's close to a football ground. It's actually an issue for some people only going to the cinema, as some movies are over 2 hours, and with queuing up for tickets/ food and opening trailers customers are going over the 3 hour limit without even going to one of the restaurants as well.
Apparently they have a computer in the cinema to type in your registration so you can stay for longer, but cinema staff are not telling customers this, and at first the staff at the restaurants and the gym weren't told this either.

@satsumaeater

Someone having a driveway doesn’t mean that it’s fair that commuters take all the parking and residential streets get treated like a car park. And when you DON’T have a drive, you don’t have any option but to park on the street.

but residents know the station or school is there before they buy the house

So? Doesn't give people licence to be inconsiderate. The commuters to the station at my old house happily parked all day (instead of walking an extra 10 or 15 minutes or so) knowing it massively inconvenienced residents. They said it was legal to park there so they didn't care if it was inconsiderate. When we introduced residents parking they all moaned no end about how inconsiderate the residents were being! They knew the station was a walk away when they bought their house too!

Now I live near a school and was told 'I knew there was a school there and should have expected it' when people block my car into my drive. My neighbour's sister visits daily and is disabled. She got a drive and dropped kerb to enable her sister to park (neighbour herself doesn't drive). The woman who had been in the habit of parking outside her house had a massive moan about how selfish it was of neighbour to take away 'her' spot. The CFery of some drivers knows no bounds!

but residents know the station or school is there before they buy the house

So what? Maybe they commute and bought near the station for convenience themselves. Doesn't mean they want cf's parking in their road who don't want to pay for station parking permits.

but residents know the station or school is there before they buy the house

There was a SMALL two form intake primary school nearby when I bought my house and back then people simple didn’t drive to school. Now it is a four form intake primary and a massive 6 form intake secondary (with plans to expand further) and parents seem afraid to let their children walk more than a few hundred yards!

DS doesn’t go to that school but he does walk the one mile (almost exactly) to school and it hasn’t died of exhaustion yet..... but most of his peers seem to be driven to school....even those who live closer....

Anything that lessens the use of cars is good - as long as there are alternatives which usually there are or you need to use a car for physical reasons