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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think parking charges kill city centres?

205 replies

shakingstevensfan · 01/06/2021 00:57

We had a nice day out today and on the way home decided to stop in the city centre and get a cheap meal. We parked the car and went to pay, but the price of parking was £2.40 an hour - this applied up till 10 pm. This meant the minimum we would spend on parking was £4.80, but could easily be £7.20.
If I had been going for an expensive meal that would be fine. But the city centre is full of fairly cheap chain restaurants that are nothing special. So we got back in the car and drove instead to a retail park where we went to the exact same place we had planned to go, but with free parking.
It just amazes me that councils know city centres are dying but they still put people off actually using them.
We have not been in the city centre for a year and won't go back again unless it is for something special.

OP posts:
Serpenta · 01/06/2021 01:07

No.

I wish UK cities were pedestrianised with even fewer cars around. Ban (most) vehicles, unclog the streets, and make public transport into the city centres free.

MiddleClassMother · 01/06/2021 01:09

No, the parking charges are designed to keep you from using the car. We should pedestrianise most cities, driving in the city is counter productive anyways, it just takes longer. Think London, you'd be insane to drive round there! Soon all cities will be the same as public transport links improve.

Original poster
shakingstevensfan · 01/06/2021 01:12

But not everyone lives in London. It is quicker to get to my home driving through the city centre than going around the ring road. The city centre streets were very quiet and there were lots of empty on-street parking spaces.

OP posts:
CounsellorTroi · 01/06/2021 01:16

No. If city centre parking were free you’d never be able to park anywhere anyway.

SherryPalmer · 01/06/2021 01:16

YANBU Public transport in the U.K. is dire outside of a few major cities. It’s just not a viable mode of transport for lots of people.

MiddleClassMother · 01/06/2021 01:17

Nor do I. It's the future, we have to deal with it. The ring road was out there for a reason, to cut traffic out of the city centre, reducing the air pollution your car causes.

MiddleClassMother · 01/06/2021 01:18

Sorry, that should say put!

WTFisNext · 01/06/2021 01:57

I voted YANBU because unless you live in London or possibly another large English city public transport is woefully inadequate so parking charges are literally strangling the city centres...along with the purposeful structure of the roads to discourage private cars.

I'm all for car free city centres, but effective and cheap public transport infrastructure needs to come before penalising private motorists or there won't be a city centre to be worth the journey.

FangsForTheMemory · 01/06/2021 02:36

It’s not all about YOUR convenience.

HelgaDownUnder · 01/06/2021 06:23

YANBU.

Where I live there are thriving village centres all around, and no parking charges, although parking is mostly time-limited to 2 or 3 hours during business hours. Lots of gift shops, cafes, op-shops, as well as services like banks, post office, GP etc.

Parking charges don't stop people driving, it just steers them towards newer retail developments and malls that have their own carparks (exactly what you did). Those places often don't want to rent to a new or small business, so in the end you get the same ugly shopping centres with the same big chains and franchises everywhere. There are really only a handful of places large enough to generate enough foot traffic to sustain a business centre without free parking.

LittleRa · 01/06/2021 06:28

@FangsForTheMemory

It’s not all about YOUR convenience.
The OP isn’t talking about convenience, she’s talking about the fact that the charges put people off parking there which leads to the city centre shops and restaurants being deserted and eventually closing down.
Golden2021 · 01/06/2021 06:30

So true. Go to a retail park for free. Our city centre is dire and dying. You can't move at the retail park and the shops aren't better.

BarbaraofSeville · 01/06/2021 06:31

@WTFisNext

I voted YANBU because unless you live in London or possibly another large English city public transport is woefully inadequate so parking charges are literally strangling the city centres...along with the purposeful structure of the roads to discourage private cars.

I'm all for car free city centres, but effective and cheap public transport infrastructure needs to come before penalising private motorists or there won't be a city centre to be worth the journey.

This. But OP, couldn't you have parked for less or nothing further out? In my city, parking is free except right in the city centre or very cheap like a fixed £2 a little further out for the whole evening in evenings and on Sundays.

When we go out to eat in the city in the evening, we park about 5-10 mins walk outside the centre for free, or if I go on my own, I use the park and ride, which takes a bit longer and costs £1 but means I don't have to walk through a slightly dodgy area on my own. But that only runs until 8.30 but fine to go in earlier for a quick early dinner or takeaway pick up (we don't have deliveroo etc before anyone suggests it).

purplesequins · 01/06/2021 06:33

yabu
if has been shown again and again in other cities that footfall brings in money but that free parking doesn't.

lljkk · 01/06/2021 06:34

private cars kill city centres

DeathStare · 01/06/2021 06:35

I'm not sure it does put people off on balance. Sure, it put you off, but there will be plenty of people who won't be put off - people who use public transport or who were in the city centre anyway. Restaurants have to attract enough people not attract everyone

NoSquirrels · 01/06/2021 06:36

Soon all cities will be the same as public transport links improve.

Ha! Well, we can dream.

Free or very cheap parking does work to stimulate trade on the high street and city centres. But councils find parking charges and fines an easy cash cow.

What we need is sustained joined up thinking on public transport, out of town park and rides, high street incentives to businesses (lower business rates, higher tax rates on online businesses), cultural hubs so it’s not just “shopping” people visit urban centres for, and so on.

Sustained, inventive joined up thinking in local councils is not always (often?) available - lots of competing factions keen to keep vested interests, in my experience.

NoSquirrels · 01/06/2021 06:39

@purplesequins

yabu if has been shown again and again in other cities that footfall brings in money but that free parking doesn't.
Where is the “footfall” coming from, though?

I’d be interested to see any studies on free parking not driving footfall.

Winkywonkydonkey · 01/06/2021 06:39

Councils won't put any money into public transport if they're earning a mint off car parks.

We walk into our city centre but there are occasions we need to drive (picking heavy items up, pelting with rain etc) and I'd love to take the bus but the route takes ages and costs more than parking if we take the whole family and the cycling routes are all dangerous for DC. I would love a clear cycle path (not just a red strip on a very busy road) but there is no way they'll invest in that of they're raking in parking money.

Zorinindustries · 01/06/2021 06:40

I agree OP. If I want to go somewhere and the parking is difficult or expensive, I'll just go somewhere else.
I wouldn't dream of getting a bus.
To get from my house in the northern part of the city to the centre (2 miles) takes 5 to 10 min by car.
By bus its around 45-50 minutes.

So to pop to a chain store to grab some new clothes for the kids, I'll drive.
If the parking is made expensive or difficult, I'll drive 15 min to the next town to park there. Its still much quicker and cheaper than the bus.

CoalCraft · 01/06/2021 06:40

I agree OP, not so much in major cities, where people reasonable could use public transport, but definitely for small towns.

The simple fact is that most small town centres have crap public transport infrastructure and the only straightforward way of getting there if you don't live in walking distance is by car. Most of the shops in town centres are also available in large retail parks. If you put up barriers to driving to/parking in your town, people won't just start using the shit public transport, they'll go to the retail park, even if it's further away.

You then get a vicious cycle where shops pull out of town centres due to lack of custom, so that the town centre is not only less convenient than the retail park, but less appealing too, so custom dwindles further.

Now, you could argue that so what if the high street dies. Actually this is mostly the position I take. But a lot of people would see the final triumph of the retail park as a sad thing.

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 01/06/2021 06:41

@Serpenta

No.

I wish UK cities were pedestrianised with even fewer cars around. Ban (most) vehicles, unclog the streets, and make public transport into the city centres free.

This
Ellpellwood · 01/06/2021 06:47

I live about 15 minutes from Bath. For one, it's cheaper to pay the £7ish train fare than approx £10 to park, but for 4 adults who would fit in my car it's £28. Public transport isn't a magic alternative solution at those prices so people will continue to drive and pay the tenner.

NoSquirrels · 01/06/2021 06:48

Ellpellwood Bath park and ride is free, though?

Zorinindustries · 01/06/2021 06:51

This is also one of the reasons why so many department stores are closing.
They are based in High streets.
If I want to buy something bulky, (eg some saucepans, or a 30 piece dinner service, or school shoes and trainers for 3 DC) I'd rather drive than drag it on a bus, especially if I had toddlers, pushchairs etc to deal with.
If I can't drive or park in town, I'll go to a retail park.