Short stay parking charges set to be frozen again in Dorchester

By alfiebass | Tuesday, December 07, 2010, 19:02

West Dorset District Council is set to freeze town centre short stay parking charges for the sixth year in a row.

The suggestion, designed to help shoppers and local businesses, is part

of a wide ranging parking report to be considered by councillors on 14

December.

The report also suggests:

• Scrapping overnight charges in district council car parks along the coast for two years

• A five year programme to replace West Dorset’s ageing ticket machines

• Improved signs, lighting, layout and safety in the district’s car parks

• No increase in the £1 fee for Dorchester’s popular park & ride service

• Increases of between zero and 70p for long stay (up to 3 hours or all day) tickets in district council car parks

• Increases in fees for quarterly and yearly long stay parking permits

West Dorset District Council Car Parks Manager Eugene Barnes said:

“The council removed overnight car parking charges outside the coastal strip from 1 November to help generate evening trade.

“We have listened to local chambers of commerce who have asked us to

extend this along the coast so that businesses there can benefit too.

This could be crucial to some businesses, particularly if the recession

deepens next year.

“Meanwhile, some of our car park meters are over 20 years old and have

issued more than a million tickets. They need replacing. The newer

machines would be networked and notify the parking attendants of stuck

coins and ticket jams. They would take credit/debit cards.”

The report also recommends converting 154 spaces in Dorchester’s

Wollaston Field car park from long to short stay spaces. It says long

stay capacity is available at Fairfield car park plus park & ride,

but extra park & ride spaces will be needed on Wednesdays (market

day).

If the report is approved on 14 December, West Dorset’s town councils

will be asked for their views on the proposed increase in parking

charges before councillors make a final decision in February.

Ads by Google

Are they doing free Christmas parking? I know some places do, usually for the last week, or weekend, in the run up to Christmas to help people out.

By MrBobBobly at 14:48 on 20/12/10
Report
It is cheap to park in places around West Dorset, but not in every car park. Why can they do it more cheaply than places like Weymouth which is really pricey in comparison? It makes me think they're sitting on pots of cash and not spending it. Either that or it's really good with its budgeting. I wonder what other people think is the reason?

By BucklandRiper at 22:43 on 15/12/10
Report
This is a really welcome move by the council - it's so cheap to park in places like Bridport East Street, where it's like 20p an hour or something. It's great to give something back to the ratepayers, because most of us, let's face it, think all councils do is rake in the cash through parking revenues!

By SailGirl at 19:39 on 14/12/10
Report