Lib Dems Call for Shepway Parking Policy Review

The Liberal Democrats are calling for Shepway Council to make the best use of its car parks and stop setting a district wide tariff which is driving people away in a motion to the 24th November Full Council meeting.

Many Shepway Car parks are operating well below capacity much of the time, with one example being Sandgate's Castle Road Car Park which, in its first year of charging, averaged just 4 spaces out of 43 in paid use at any time. The Liberal Democrat motion calls for a car park by car park review to ensure the maximum use of spaces, which would benefit the local economy and businesses and alleviate parking problems. It says:

"This Council will amend its car parking policy to allow individual determination and testing of parking fees and periods in each of its currently charging car parks, in consultation with the Town or Parish Council in which the car park is located.

"This Council believes pricing and charging hours should be appropriate to each charging car park to ensure the maximum use of car parking spaces, which in turn would assist the current policy of income maximisation from fee-paying Council Car Parks."

Shepway Councillor Tim Prater, who has led a long campaign against the current parking charges at Sandgate's Castle Road Car park, commented:

"Empty car parks are no use to anyone - they raise no money for Shepway, and make life difficult for local residents and businesses. If cutting charges in some car parks raised their usage, we could see a win for everyone: more people paying Shepway to park, more people using the car park rather than seeking scarce spaces on local roads, and more people able to stop in our towns and villages boosting local businesses.

"One size does not fit all for charging at Shepway's car parks - we need to use some common sense."