On 27 Nov 2012 at 6:04am Parker wrote:
Argus News
First parking fees rise in eight years for Lewes
By Tim Ridgway
5:30pm Monday 26th November 2012
Parking fees are to rise by 10% to help council bosses in Lewes balance the books.
The district council believes that the rise, the first in eight years, will generate an extra £76,000 a year.
Officials say it will simplify the system, while ensuring it remains cheaper than neighbouring areas.
In the future charges will rise in line with the retail prices index (RPI) measure for inflation, which is currently 3.2%.
Critics accused the council of ??piling stealth taxes? on residents who use the more than 2,000 spaces at 57 car parks across the district.
While prices will rise overall, from April council bosses will scrap charges on bank holidays across the district.
They will also reduce the charging times in off-street car parks by two hours ?? from 8am to 6pm currently to 9am to 5pm.
Council leader James Page said: ??Parking prices have stayed the same for eight years and will still be cheaper than in neighbouring towns like Bexhill and Burgess Hill.
??Although some people will pay more for longer stays, many will pay less, so we??re putting money back into people??s pockets where we can while generating some much- needed extra income to pay for repairs and other services.?
Restrictions
Town hall bosses said the change of times is to bring the off-street car parks into line with the on-street restrictions, which are enforced by East Sussex County Council.
Currently there are nine tariffs across the district.
Motorists can pay as little as 50p a day, with one hour in Seaford costing either 55p or 90p.
They will be replaced by three tariffs for Lewes and one in Seaford and Newhaven, where an hour will cost 70p.
Liberal Democrat group leader James MacCleary said: ??It seems that Tories at all levels are determined to pile stealth taxes on Lewes residents through parking charges.
??It??s hard enough for local businesses in the current environment without seeing parking becoming yet more expensive.
??If the Tory strategy for Lewes is to kill off local businesses and jobs as quickly as possible then they are making the right moves.?
The council said some of the additional £76,000 income, in addition to the £205,000 it expects to receive in 2012/13 from parking fees, will go towards replacing signs and street lines.
On 27 Nov 2012 at 8:41am Pete wrote:
Pick a meter, any meter........then obliterate it !!
On 27 Nov 2012 at 10:47am Sussex Jim wrote:
Council leader James Page has compared Lewes parking charges with those of Bexhill and Burgess Hill, but what of all those towns in between in Wealden district? Tory controlled Crowborough,Hailsham,Heathfield,Uckfield and Wadhurst all enjoy FREE parking!
And Liberal councillor James MacCleary has really used the subject to do some Tory bashing, especially in the Sussex Express. I don't like the charges; but a 10% increase after 8 years seems good value to me. I wish all my bills only rose by similar amounts.
On 27 Nov 2012 at 2:06pm Ed Can Do wrote:
Don't forget that this is the LDC putting up proces, not ESCC so it only applies to car parks, not on street parking. Also don't forget that LDC has 18 LibDems to 22 Cons. Can any of them confirm that all 18 Libs were suitably vocal when this move was being discussed? I know Donna Edmunds posts here around elcetion times, perhaps she'd like to explain her stance on this matter and why her Tory pals are so keen to price motorists out of Lewes?
Interestingly, The Daily Politics today featured a discussion on what the point of District Councils was with the answer as I saw it being that nobody except District Councillors really knows...
On 27 Nov 2012 at 4:15pm jonnyboy wrote:
Rather disingenuous of Page to compare parking charges in Lewes to those in Seaford and Burgess Hill wher both towns have numerous free 1 hour parking spaces.
On 27 Nov 2012 at 6:23pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Too true. There's loads of free parking in Seaford, and plenty of it unlimited for time.
Mind you, you can't buy a ball of organic string there, not even for ready money and I've yet to find a cafe that serves soya lattes.
It doesn't have a pizza place, either.
On 27 Nov 2012 at 7:15pm Cllr Donna Edmunds wrote:
Hello. For the record, I PERSONALLY am against parking charges across the district and would like to see them abolished. However, Lewes (and to an extend Seaford and Newhaven) are commuter towns, so it would be unfair of people to take advantage of free spaces in the town and spend the day in London, leaving no parking for anyone else. To solve that problem, I'd like to see free parking for the first four hours, with nominal charges after that.
All that aside, there was £150,000 in the budget left over from LibDem rule, which they had intended to reap from parking charges. Our choices were therefore to raise charges or find £150,000 from our services to bridge the gap. In that light, a 10% rise is probably not a bad deal.
We are giving Seaford and Newhaven free parking for two weeks over Christmas, and it's my hope that in time we can abolish charges altogether (at least for the first four hours).
On 27 Nov 2012 at 8:54pm expat two wrote:
I think you're probably lying. What do you care anyway, you're never in Lewes let alone the district you claim to represent.
Why on earth are you on this forum - is there another election in the offing that you need to cosy up to the locals for? Go on, clear off you parasite.
On 28 Nov 2012 at 7:56am Pete wrote:
Nothing like a bit of constructive criticism expat two .....
On 28 Nov 2012 at 12:02pm That's me in the corner wrote:
10%? I think not. The meters don't take brown coins so the rates will have to be rounded up or down (fat chance) to the nearest 5p.
So,
40p will likely become 45p. 5/40 * 100 = 12.5%.
70p will likely become 80p. 10/70 * 100 = 14.3%
£1.20 will likely become £1.35. 15/120 * 100 = 12.5% etc, etc.
Disingenuous or what?
On 28 Nov 2012 at 12:18pm Ed Can Do wrote:
It'll be an "Average" 10%, meaning that all the useful carparks will go up 20% or more and they'll find a carpark in the middle of nowhere that nobody uses and freeze the charges there to balance out.
Nice to see that Seaford and Newhaven are getting free parking for two weeks while Lewes gets shafted with a price hike. Is hating Lewes official Tory party policy now?
On 28 Nov 2012 at 1:38pm ex Lewes shopper wrote:
Sorry Lewes traders. They've frozen me out now. The out of town warehouses with free parking it is from now on.
On 28 Nov 2012 at 7:20pm Ducatipete wrote:
Uckfield has a train station and parking in the council owned car parks it is free. Whats the problem. If parking charges are going up I am amazed they have not yet put meters in Bell Lane/Winterbourne Hollow.
On 28 Nov 2012 at 8:43pm Grumpy trader wrote:
Had to park in SE9 last week , a car park 50yards along a real pedestrian precinct into the high street £1 for an hour bargin ! It did get progressively more expensive and topped out at £5.50 for 4 hours , worth thinking about ?
On 28 Nov 2012 at 9:00pm Extra wrote:
Double yellow lines destined for Bell Lane. More displacement.
Where do all these vehicles go with more yellow line creep, and no further off street parking planned - because there isn't a plan!
£155.08 million visitor spend in Lewes District in 2010. (Sussex Express 161211). Where is the infrastructure investment for a tourist based economy?
Coach parking on a bomb site on a hill, with no facilities.
Welcome to Lewes. County town and gateway to a National Park.
On 28 Nov 2012 at 10:12pm Expat Two wrote:
Apologies Pete, I don??t usually waste my time with these clowns, they can??t deal with reason, generally resorting to rhetoric and lies instead. If you want something constructive;
??All that aside, there was £150,000 in the budget left over from LibDem rule, which they had intended to reap from parking charges?
Nope, sorry Love, that doesn??t make sense - where did you study logic, The Daily Mail Academy? (Motto; Sinistram Non Est Verum)
??Our choices were therefore to raise charges or find £150,000 from our services to bridge the gap.?
Well, there isn??t a gap, they left 150k in the budget ?? remember? (Clue - it was in your preceding sentence). Far more likely, it??s the Tories wanting another 150k off the locals, to give to NCP who will make a few useful donations to the party coffers. Cllr Donna Edmunds gets told to dip into the Lewes Forum and dish out a bit of bs spin, "don??t over-think it pet - the plebs are far too thick to critically analyse".
Crony Capitalism. Parasites. Clear off.
On 28 Nov 2012 at 10:56pm Deelite wrote:
Ah, glad it was not just me who could not understand Donna's post.
On 29 Nov 2012 at 3:23pm Sussex Jim wrote:
I think some posters are being unfair to our democratically elected councillor Donna Edmunds. I have never met the lady, but we do have in common a loathing of the Lewes parking scheme. I would like to see the Wealden scheme adopted; free parking,but time limited as appropriate.
This forum should be about intelligent discussion and information, and we should allow local polititians to say their piece without ridicule
On 29 Nov 2012 at 6:33pm expat two wrote:
Don't be so ridiculous. If that's how you feel about leaders, why don't you go and live in China? They take a dim view of Government criticisms too, you'd like it there.
On 2 Dec 2012 at 9:27pm Ed Can Do wrote:
We'll stop heaping ridicule on local politicians when they stop being ridiculous.
Seriously, go back and read Donna's post, it makes no sense at all and isn't she supposed to be in charge of communications or something? Is literacy too much to ask for in local government?