CAR PARK CHARGES

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Visiting Derby should have been an excellent experience; unfortunately we hadn’t banked on the obscure signage that Derby City Council place in their car parks, Liversage Street to be exact. Following an exciting day in and around the city, we parked at Liversage Street at 16:51 hours and a parking ticket was purchased to the value of £1.80 (1 to 2 hours), therefore the expiry time would be 16:51 plus 2 hours = 18:51, one would think. On returning to the vehicle in the dimly lit car park at 18:45, I was suddenly aware that there was a dishevelled individual loitering at the front of my vehicle, he was wearing a disgustingly dirty high visibility jacket, and he could plainly be seen as my car was one of three in the car park, one of the other two being his own which was parked at some distance.

Drawing myself up to my full height, five foot ten and a half, I sized up the individual, deciding size for size we were a fair match, should he turn his attention to me, I was surprised to find he was the car park warden and had attached a PCN (penalty charge notice) to the vehicle windscreen, which claims that a penalty charge had been incurred at 18:20, which is clearly within the 2 hours parking period for which payment of £1.80 had been accepted as detailed on the display placard. The car park warden told me not to worry about it, they never collect the fines, take it and stick it on that car over there, this seemed a strange suggestion from a DCC employee, who was obviously employed to catch out the unsuspecting visitor.

Having checked out the terms of the Road Traffic Act, I’m glad I didn’t accept his invitation, I could have ended up being locked up. On closer inspection the dimly lit placard has an obscure last line, stating that if the parking period exceeds 18:00 hours and additional 80p is levied, I admit I missed it, but it is obscure especially to the unsuspecting visitor. So, a £30 fine had been levied, I decided to write to Derby City Council admitting the oversight and suggesting that they make the levy more obvious by changing the placard times to reflect the issue, only to receive a letter in reply to the effect that my “challenge” will result in the fine being doubled to £60.

I will think twice before visiting Derby again, the whole issue has left me wondering why a genuine mistake in an otherwise empty car park (post 18:00 hours) will leave me £60 worst off, so much for the DCC charter and encouraging tourism. I would be interested to find out if my plight is unusual, or are there others who have fallen foul of this rule? Vincent Greatwood

Currently, people who leave their cars in the park and ride car park at Pride Park and walk to their offices nearby pay 50p for a full day's parking but Derby City Council is planning to increase daily charges at the 1,100-space car park to £1.90. It would mean that charges for workers would be brought into line with those who use the park-and-ride service to travel into the city by bus and already pay £1.90.

The many employees of Pride Park companies who have parked there for £2.50 a week since it opened in 1998 now face a £9.50 weekly charge instead. The council plans to install a barrier-controlled system at the car park to prevent people from parking there without paying. It estimates that installing the system will cost between £40,000 and £50,000. A council spokesman said the council did not think the price rise would cause more workers to park in nearby residential areas.

He added, "People who work in Pride Park use the pay-and-display machines, but people using the park and ride pay on the bus. We do have somebody down there whenever the car park is open, but there's no definitive way of knowing which cars should have stickers on and which ones shouldn't. The barriers will enable us to do that. When you talk about a 280% price rise, then it does sound like a lot but, comparatively speaking, £1.90 for a day's car parking is not a lot of money." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Dec/06)

The Commission for Integrated Transport wants free parking at out-of-town shopping centres to be abolished to save traditional high streets from terminal decline and protect the environment. The CIT believes that the lack of parking fees at centres such as Lakeside in Essex and Meadowhall in Sheffield is causing shoppers to use their cars and desert towns and cities. It proposes that centres are forced to charge for parking and spend the money on better bus services and access for pedestrians and cyclists. Fees are likely to start at £1 per hour.

The commission says similar parking fees should apply to every shopping centre and retail park in a region to discourage drivers from travelling to another location where parking is cheaper or free. It also proposes, in the longer term, that congestion charges should be introduced on busy roads leading to retail centres. The commission’s report, Sustainable Transport Choices and the Retail Sector, which will be delivered to the Department for Transport today, calls for restrictions on the expansion of out-of-town retailing centres.

The commission acknowledges that it is more convenient to travel by car than by bus when buying heavy and bulky items, but says the solution lies in greater use of internet shopping and home deliveries. The proportion of shopping trips made by car has grown from 49% in 1991 to 62% in 2005, though the figure conceals a difference in how people travel to high streets and out-of-town centres. More than 50% of city centre shoppers travel by bus, on foot or by bicycle, compared with only 13% visiting retail parks.

Helen Holland, the commission member who chaired the inquiry into retailing, said, “Introducing parking fees at retail parks would make people think twice about getting in the car and driving out of town. The commission recognises that for some shopping trips the car is the most convenient option, but this level of car use is not sustainable. We want to see local authorities, retailers and transport operators taking the right decisions to support the high street. Out-of-town shopping centres surrounded by gridlocked streets and irate shoppers will not help anyone, least of all the retailers.” (Source: Times Online, Jul/06)