"Ridiculous" parking meters making people think twice about where they shop
New parking meters were set up in Fareham earlier this year
‘Ridiculous' parking meters in a high street are making residents think twice about where they shop, a council leader has said.
Earlier this year, Hampshire County Council set up parking meters in Fareham High Street, with motorists having to pay £1 to park for more than 20 minutes, with a maximum stay of one hour.
The decision came after the county council took back control of all on-street parking across the county.
Previously, Fareham Borough Council allowed for 40 minutes free parking.
But with the parking meters not accepting cash payments, there are fears that elderly people are not being catered for – with some stories circulating that other motorists are having to pay for their parking.
Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Cllr Sean Woodward, said: ‘Plenty of people have come to me with their concerns about this – I opposed the positioning of parking meters in the high street but the county council did it anyway.
‘It’s ridiculous that people can’t pay in cash, but that’s the decision that the county council, in all its infinite wisdom, chose to make.
‘This is a small stretch of road so I doubt they’re making that much money off it anyway. All we can do is keep putting the pressure on the county council to make changes.’
Parking meters have also been installed in Lee-on-the-Solent and in Lymington, despite concerns being raised in the past by councillors and local residents alike.
Councillor Nick Adams-King, executive member for highways operations, said: ‘Pay-and-display schemes are becoming the norm in the majority of cities, towns and larger villages across the UK. The decision to implement on-street pay and display parking was made in June 2021 to help manage demand for spaces in busy areas in a number of towns in Hampshire and other non-retail areas including sea-front locations and areas popular with visitors.
‘We listened to the views expressed by local people and amended the original proposals for Fareham High Street to include an initial free period of parking. This change allows short duration stops, of up to 20 minutes, to be made without the need to pay for parking.
‘Our surveys show the new parking controls in Fareham are working well with continued high usage, but we will continue to monitor the scheme in the High Street in the coming weeks.
‘The parking meters in Fareham take contactless card payments, as do most shops and businesses, and people not wishing to use contactless or the RingGo app can pay for parking via their cards by calling the RingGo number provided on the parking machines.
‘Cashless and contactless parking machines provide advantages for the council in terms of low maintenance, a lesser risk of vandalism, no cash collection and considering the pandemic no need to touch shared surfaces.’