Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Sorry to hear that Ed.
I tried to have car-parking charges stop at 5pm last year and wrote to all the Cabinet members about it, but because someone had calculated that that one hour brings in £90,000, that's right - £90,000 a year, they just had to put the hour on - didn't they ?
There was just one cabinet member who voted against this extra hour for charging, so it went ahead.
If Nigel wasn't in Purdah, he could tell us what advantages Dover will get - I had feeling it was a couple of free parking days when events are on.
Roger
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
On Saturday I was at Greenhithe with a friend and we popped into their Asda store cafe for a snack and a cuppa. The cafe windows overlook a small carpark area at the back of the main store which has a small paid parking area but is mainly a taxi rank.At the front of the store is a huge free carpark. Whilst there we saw three drivers get a ticket from a lurking traffic warden, and each was very unhappy because they each gave the warden an angry one fingered wave as they left. One of them threw his ticket out of his window at which point the warden walked across, looked at it, wrote something on a pad and walked away - he didn't even pick it up and put it in the bin! Well it made me smile anyway
Seriously though, I don't know of anyone, except Ed,who would want that job
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
Guest 662- Registered: 18 Mar 2008
- Posts: 325
Last Monday - Bank Holiday the Car Park Attendants (Traffic Wardens) were having a field day in Somerfield Car Park. So many people thought that it would be free being a Bank Holiday. In the two hours I was parked there the attendant was in the car park and at all times at least 10 cars had tickets... I do think DDC could be a bit more lenient on Bank Holidays at least.
The linear charging is very useful, especially if you know your only going to be half hour, I use it alot. Michelle x
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,025
Yes I was the rebel who voted against the extra hour .I have always listened to the public and as a politian one should never fiorget why you were elected .I keep on about decent toilets but its like talking to the brick wall
.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
Good on you Sue and indeed Roger too.
Its great to have the two of you fighting our corner, we need a lot more of that in Dover
In these hard times we need more than a couple of free parking days for events on offer, there is no doubt we should have the same deal as Deal
Sue Nicholas- Location: river
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 6,025
I could not agree more .Watch the story unfold this week and see the difference between Deal and Dover.
I will always fight for the man in the street or woman .
I feel a bit defensive of Dover's parking because I really don't think it's that bad. Been to Canterbury lately? Or Maidstone? Or Ashford? I think we get a far better deal in Dover.
Every time I go to Folkestone or Canterbury I hunt down the back streets and secret urban areas and walk in. Takes a bit longer but hey. I can often park in Dover for an hour for less than a quid which is ample - and cheap.
I'm well known for NOT being "green" or "environmentally friendly" too but for those who are, just think of how over-run with cars we'd all be if the parking was all free? Think of the unfair use of car parks if the early birds took all the free spaces and just stayed there for hours at a time? Think of the poor traffic wardens, out of work, because we want freebies. Hey, they're people and they need love too. But not too much love, grrr.....
Paying for parking is a reality of EVERY town and city in the land and I really don't think Dover is that bad. I have seen MANY places far worse, far more expensive, and some with very poor facilities (such as big pot holes that damage your wheels). You could argue that Dover's parking could be better, but EVERYTHING could be better and the forthcoming extra free hour is at least a little bit of help when we need it, even if it isn't a golden ticket to free parking.
As for being caught and getting a ticket - well, we all know the game, and we cannot complain when we lose. I've had parking tickets before. Sometimes you get unlucky but one thing is probably sure - almost every ticket is issued because the driver has broken the rules, even if it may be sometimes unwittingly.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
Agree with all that, Rick. Don't think anybody is questioning the rationale behind car park charging or criticising the provision in Dover. What most of the posters are asking for is the flexibility to carry unused time on one ticket over to use in the next carpark they need to visit, albeit this would appear to be beyond the capability of the systems currently in use.
My own small whinge was that slapping exorbitant fines on tail-end charlies minutes before the charging period expires for the day is only being done to swell the coffers and has nothing to do with the accepted raison d'etre for charging to which you refer, i.e. ensuring a steady turnover of spaces. Roger's advice that the final hour generates £90,000 p.a. would seem to bear this out.
Things is Ed, if Dover allowed parking tickets to be transferable then this would be a highly innovative and pioneering experiment. After all, I don't know of a single town or city that does this - ANY pay-and-display in the UK is probably the same, where tickets are non-transferable and if you don't stay for as long as you pay then you lose out. Why would Dover be the first to embark on such a daring, probably expensive experiment?