Forum Topic

Parking Fines set to rise

I don't really want to be critical of the 'news editor' of this site but I find the above headlines for a news item on the front page reminiscent of a typical Daily Express headline.As I understand this item, this is the long awaited and sensible change of parking fines to differentiate between those motorists who selfishly abandon their vehicles on yellow lines and delay other drivers or obstruct pedestrians and those motorists who have attempted to park legally on a parking meter or in a car park but who have not paid the right amount or overstayed the time period. Yes the fines for the former category of motorists will rise to £100 but the fines for the latter category will in fact fall to £60. .... but I suppose the headline 'Parking Fines set to fall' wouldn't provoke the same 'what are they doing to car drivers now' reaction!

Verification Required ● 6571d5 Comments

“It is a sobering thought that if we all decided to give up smoking, drinking and driving as we are all being urged to do,somewhere along the line there would have to be a massive tax hike to plug the gap.”… until the NHS downsized in response to all the hundreds of lung cancer sufferers, fight victims, and injured drunk drivers no longer presented, and the engineers no longer had the need to widen more roads…

Chris Calvi-Freeman ● 6570d

What I should have said before making flippant remarks, is that improvements do not cover repairs although I think most of us would say a repair would be a vast improvement in some areas. I am also not sure many of us would consider some of the things that do get done improve anything at all - you pays your money - you takes your choice. It is a sobering thought that if we all decided to give up smoking, drinking and driving as we are all being urged to do,somewhere along the line there would have to be a massive tax hike to plug the gap.

Vanessa Smith ● 6570d

I don't think what happens to it is the issue - well not for me anyway. It is the amount that keeps rising and rising, I fear the motorist is the no.1 cash cow, and whilst reasonable parking fees are acceptable this sort of extortion is what leads to motorists to try and find alternatives which generally means upsetting some poor resident in the area or just causing a blasted nuisance. It's all a question of reasonableness, my recollection from some years ago is that the money generated from on- street parking is ring-fenced and should fund highway improvements - this may have changed in the intervening years. So by that token we should not have a pot-hole or broken paving stone in the borough.

Vanessa Smith ● 6570d

Vanessa - would I be right in guessing that the 'they' you refer to is in fact the Council. Just what is it that you think 'they' do with the money they receive from Parking? Could it possibly be that 'they' spend it on services for the community or is this far too simplistic? As a former Councillor who was once one of 'them', you presumably know more than most of us about what happens to this money.

Verification Required ● 6570d

Never mind parking fines the cost of parking has risen astronomically too - I have never minded paying but I think we have now strayed into "taking the p***" territory. I had to visit the dental hygienist today and parked in The Butts - it is now 70p for 30 minutes! Of course when you don't know how long you're going to take you err on the side of caution and double up, outrageous. Then they wonder why people pass unused time on parking tickets on to others - thereby loosing money - answer? Because they're too bloody greedy.

Vanessa Smith ● 6570d