Roll out of new parking machines in Dorset is delayed
Dorset Council is aiming to have the same machines in use across the whole area
The roll out of new parking machines in Dorset has been delayed – after problems with updating cash machines.
Cllr Bryan said on Friday that the £250,000 roll out of all the new machines could be held up by up to “one or two months” because of supply and fitting delays.
The council is aiming to have the same machines in use across the whole area as soon as the new charges start.
The council has recently been advertising the new fees to come into effect from April.
Newspaper and other adverts have been appearing laying out what the new fees will be.
Highways portfolio holder Cllr Ray Bryan told councillors that parking services had also been hit by problems with a cash collector going out of business – leaving the council with no other immediate means of collecting coins from the machines.
As a result, many parking meters across the county have been out of action with customers being asked to use a parking app’ instead to pay for parking fees, although more are being brought back on line. The issue is not related to the roll out of the new machines.
The new charges will introduce new payment bands for rural areas, market towns and seaside and other tourist attraction areas, some of the new fees higher in the summer than the winter
At the same time the council is also introducing new residents parking permits, streamlining up to 70 previous permits and replacing them with two – a new ‘pop and shop’ permit, costing £78 for the year, which will allow up to two hours a day in short stay parking areas while a ‘live, work and play’ permit will allow limited access to short-stay parking and full access to long-stay parking for £260 a year.
For those paying at machines, or by app’, the new highest tier will £10 for ten hours in the high season, £6 maximum in the low season and will cover Weymouth’s car parks nearest the beaches, Corfe Castle, Lyme Regis, some Portland car parks and West Bay.
The next tier down has low and high season rates and will be charged at a maximum of £6 for 10 hours, £3.50 for four hours. These include Dorchester, Blandford, Bridport, Shaftesbury, Sherborne, Wareham, Weymouth (non beach) and Wimborne.
The lowest tier, for Beaminster, Charmouth, Ferndown, Gillingham, Sturminster Newton, Verwood and West Bexington will also be seasonal, up to a maximum of £10 for Charmouth and West Bexington for ten hours, or £4 off season. Hourly charges at these car parks will be £1 for two hours in the low season and £3 for two hours in the high season.
A range of new charges is also planned for on-street parking, operated by the council, at a maximum of £8 in some areas, £12 in others, with an additional charge of £2 or £4 for overnight parking.
Cllr Bryan says any extra income will be used to help the £60million annual highways budget, only £3m of which comes from local council taxpayers.