Free Saturday town centre parking between September and April on the Isle of Wight has moved a step closer.
Full council earlier this week (Wednesday) backed Reform UK councillor Reuben Loake’s motion proposing County Hall investigate the policy’s feasibility and report back for future discussions by elected representatives.
The submission says independent retailers and high streets across the Island face ‘distinct economic pressures’.
These, it states, are compounded by the seasonal nature of the Isle of Wight’s tourism economy.
The motion asserts a targeted, time-bound free parking framework from September to April would provide direct financial relief to the public, including local families, during off-peak months.
It also says making council-operated off-street town centre car parks free on Saturdays during those months would create a ‘powerful incentive’ for the public, including residents, to stay, spend, and support Island businesses.
Cllr Loake’s motion states the incentive should be restricted strictly to core town centre shopping car parks and excludes coastal, beachside and transport-interchange car parks for financial reasons.
So our wonderfully inept council have decided to POSSIBLY offer free parking for 6-8 months (depending on whether beginning or end of months mentioned) and then for the rest of the year charge ludicrously exorbitant rates for the same spaces.
Of course any ideas that have the potential to kickstart our town centres are welcome but here’s a crazy off the wall idea IOW Council…….perhaps lower the rates to a sensible rate ALL year round!
I mean is it really that difficult? And these are the people who are charged with running our island. Some of them would struggle to run a bath without instructions.
Just do what they do in Sandown
“park all year round” FREE OF CHARGE on the pavement
outside the old tourist information centre opposite
Sandown Pier.
‘INSIDE A PEDESTRIANISED ZONE’
BEATS PAYING THE DAILY AND NIGHTLY ALL YEAR ROUND
SEAFRONT PRICES.
IW COUNCIL AND SANDOWN TOWN COUNCIL ARE VERY
GENEROUS, SHOULD BE ALLOWED ISLANDWIDE – FREE SEAFRONT PARKING.
The Council are reponsible for the dead high streets due to parking charges, rates and approving out of town developments. Time to charge parking at the new St George’s Way shopping and McDonalds? Maybe make town centre free parking to encourage shopper back to the High Street?
As well as the suggested relaxation of fees in the winter for shoppers it would help residents if the evening £2 charge was dropped during this period to assist leisure/entertainment businesses as it puts off customers who want to use town centre/ sea fron establishments.
The nightly charge is the biggest piss take ever, even
Pompey or The Big Smoke don’t charge such criminal
nightly charges.
Personally I have no time for SO called island authorities
they couldn’t organise a p*ss up in a brewery.
Devolution is what I want.
The council should impose parking charges on out of town shopping supermarkets and the like.
Of course that would need to be part of the planning condition approvals no doubt but surely something can be done now to save the high streets.
The council does not own the land, the supermarkets do. Don’t give them ideas. It’s bad enough having to pay for a plastic bag to advertise their goods, if I had to pay just to enter the store I’d rather park on double yellows outside and pay the fine. At least then the money generated contributes to all as opposed to a fat shareholder’s pocket.
And if we wanted to save high streets we’d all stop shopping online, no?
This is like trying to close the stable door after the horse has bolted…..the IWC has approved out of town shopping centres full of multi national retailers with free parking and take away food and now it seems they have started to realise the error of their ways and think that the offer of free parking (in the winter months only) might entice IW resident shoppers back to the towns ….isn’t it a bit late to dangle this half-baked carrot implying that it will help increase business to struggling private shops in the town centres? In my view something far more radical is required.