Parking charges could be reintroduced at one of the Island’s last free car parks – Maresfield Road in East Cowes.
This is despite a petition from 75 local business employees and 8 other objections.
The Isle of Wight Council says the charges could make the authority £4,000 a year and help reduce the financial challenges facing the authority.
Meanwhile, the long-term future of the site is uncertain – it was earmarked for housing when the local authority bought neighbouring Venture Quays and surrounding sites from Homes England, almost 2 years ago.
The deal required the council to build houses by 2024 or risk having to sell them back for £1.
The car park fees were greenlighted as part of the Isle of Wight Council’s 2021 budget and the proposals were published in a public notice in January. Now, Isle of Wight Council’s leading cabinet members are being asked to approve them — which means the costs could be introduced imminently.
There has been significant investment in the area in the last few years, with growth for companies like Wight Shipyard and Rapanui’s Teemill.
Objectors argue the loss of free parking would impact local residents and motorists would park on surrounding residential streets instead, but council officers insist there is no evidence of this. Objectors also fear it would be a disincentive to local investment.
The charges would be the same as other Isle of Wight long-stay off-street car parks and officers say it would ensure a consistent approach to charging across the Island.
Without the additional income, officers say they would have to make further reductions in services across the highways and transport portfolio.
If introduced, Islanders would only be able to pay for parking by phone. The council says this would reduce the infrastructure and set up cost.
Cabinet is being recommended to approve the increase, but can choose to reject the proposals.
Total greed, introduce parking charges for locals, while paying for kids in london, how does that work?
The Government aided by councils are going to demonise cars so much gradually bit by bit, making them more expensive to own and run and more trouble to park, with reduced speed limits, and as we see here parking in an effort to make the masses give them up eventually.
Then we will all travel by driverless expensive cabs, whilst the well to do and those in higher places have cars which they will deem essential, and have far far quieter roads to speed past us as we wobble on electric cycles and such like.
Watch, it will happen
Wow you our money grabbing council will make £4000 per year ,,, fantastic and how much of that £4000 will go into your pension pot ?????
You say about saving having to cut services this would be a good idea !!!!!!!!
Well my amazing idea is stop paying £143 a day / night for 17 asylum seeker’s stop adding to your pension pot scrap the mostly massive elephant in the room (the non floating bridge )….
Stop buying electric pool cars computers air con etc etc ….
“Objectors argue the loss of free parking would impact local residents and motorists would park on surrounding residential streets instead, but council officers insist there is no evidence of this.”
Of course there’s no evidence yet cos it’s still free you council plums.
Someone has to fund the worlds needy and greedy arriving on our doorstep daily and never leaving a womb empty once here, and that someone will be you.
Don’t ever think those in power or the well to do will support such, they gain from more bodies forcing up land and property prices, yet we all indirectly fund the very people most of us never gain by through stealth taxes to keep people who are often detrimental to our needs of housing, treatment at doctors, hospitals, dentists, and add to the demand for energy, water, landfill and overcrowding also filling up roads, schools and prisons too.
make the council 4k a year, i doubt that by the time, it takes for the machine to be emptied and the car park to be patrolled there is more than likely be a deficit …me thinks the bean counters are not counting properly
Fine!
The Council want to introduce parking charges, but ONLY via a payment App.
This is terrific…To use this ‘service’ you have to pay an additional charge to pay for the parking!!!
Why do the Council not have payment by card on the multitude of (frequently out of service) cash payment machines they use?
Many other towns and cities have pay-by-card as opposed to cash/App systems, why not the IoW?
Oh yes, sorry, forgot, we are AT LEAST 10-years behind everyone else!!!
I’ll never get to park on my road (Cambridge road) again then, yeah thanks a freaking bunch council idiots.
“If introduced, Islanders would only be able to pay for parking by phone”. So, yet more utter discrimination by the council then against people who do not own mobile phones. Maybe someone should take out a discrimination case against the council…
Maybe they need this additional funding to help pay for the Chain Link Ferry tug that has to assist at certain times, and any other additional losses. The carpark charging is not going to help East Cowes get back on it feet. What they need is free parking, free foot passengers on the ferry, and low rent shops to start growing the area again.