Car Park Charges.

[gness]

I've been mulling this over and can't see that it makes sense.

Kettering has gone from charming market town to a run down and uninteresting town with nothing much to draw people in.

Today I was doing a stint for Save the Children which meant parking in the town. I would be there between four and five hours.

To park for up to two hours was £1.50......up to four hours £3.50 and up to six hours £6.50.

I was a bit miffed at £6.50 to help at a charity do til my whiz of a mathematical brain realised that by putting £1.50 in every two hours I would pay at the most £4.50 for six hours.....less if we finished early.

Is this the norm for car park charges where you live and does it not put people off....paying £6.50 to shop for a day in town?

Not that many would want to spend a day in Kettering now but if we had more shoppers visiting it might just encourage some more and better shops.

Or maybe I am out of touch with what people will pay to park.

[ummmm]

I think Northampton's road side parking is about the same but the multistory's are cheaper...

[BlueToffee]

Town and City councils seem hell bent on closing down their centres with their extortionate parking charges. No wonder people go to out of town shopping centres, Meadowhall for example, where they can shop in comfort AND park for free.

[gness]

So I was told today, Ummmm by a new member who has just moved from Northampton. She refused to pay...and went off to find street parking which in itself causes problems for residents in the narrow back streets.

It is a shame when that happens, Blue. Even if we don't expect our town centres to be the places they were years ago they could still be pleasant and interesting instead of the boarded up shops we have now...with more encouragement to visit instead of being put off by these charges.

[TTG]

The parking charges in Brighton are outrageous and a big shock to holidaymakers. Not sure what The Greens are trying to achieve but it's not a popular policy.

[Zacs-Master]

.....Not sure what The Greens are trying to achieve .....
Greater use of public transport I would have thought.

[boxtops]

It's the same everywhere, gness - even in our little town. Put people off parking, they go to the out of town supermarket sites where parking is free.

[sir.prize]

Our main hospital has just increased parking charges by 150%.

Disgusting.

[Jeza]

My moan about parking charges center on hospital parking. For a 2 hour visit to see Mic I have to pay for 3 hours parking. I also have a 10 minute walk to the hospital and then back again. This costs me £6.70 per day. I only go in the afternoon, if I went evenings as well it would be double that.

[gness]

If only we had good public transport in place.....I need my car to get to the nearest bus stop.

My own little town is free though....it's nice just to go and park and have a poddle and if I bump into a friend we can go to a cafe and idle away without having to dash back to argue with the warden about being two minutes late.

We had people today who stopped at our do but had no time to browse because their time was up and they wouldn't pay any more...such a pity.

[ummmm]

Jeza...isn't parking free in the evening?

[gness]

SirP and Jezza...I had ten years of hospital charges...think I paid for the new wing....jezza...if you are a frequent visitor can you get a discount? I did eventually when I was visiting my mum daily for six weeks. No-one offered. I found out and had to ask.

[RATTER15]

I think many would sooner pay the £6.50 rather than faffing about checking the time and need to rush back to top up the metre. I know I would just bung in £6.50 so I could forget about it and relax.

[Jeza]

Not at the hospital umm. You have to pay 24/7.

I did ask about a frequent visitor discount. It is being considered was the answer given to me.

[gness]

Not today, Ratter....ten yards from both meter and car...it didn't take long.

Ideally I would prefer, if I have to pay, to take a ticket....spend as long as I need or want and pay on exit.

[Tilly2]

Gness, why didn't you go on your bike?

Bedford is the same but apparently the Major has 'decreed' that people can have two hours free, four weeks before Christmas. Every little helps!

[ummmm]

That's a cheek, Jeza. I think ours is just til 6 plus we have free parking close to the hospital..

[gness]

Tilly...good though I am getting on Pequita we would both have struggled with two or three hundred tins of food to transport to the sale....

24/7 charges at KGH too, Ummmm.

[ummmm]

That's so so wrong.

[Tilly2]

Oh, I see, gness. That would have been difficult.

I rarely go into town in the car, I enjoy the walk in. I resent having to pay the extortionate fees.

[Buenchico]

>>>Kettering has gone from charming market town to a run down and uninteresting town with nothing much to draw people in

Be careful knocking Kettering, Gness. AB's HQ is there!
;-)

£6.50 for a day's parking is quite cheap when compared to many areas. My work takes me across much of the south and east of England. We paid £8 per day in Bedford recently but that's better than the £13 per day we were paying in Leicester over 5 years ago! However I was pleasantly surprised to find all-day parking in Southend for £4 recently and Ipswich only charges £4.60 if you know which car parks to use. Most central London car parks, around Westminster, currently charge around £35 per day.