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Dorchester traders hit out at 'crazy' new parking charges

11:00am Friday 31st July 2009 in


NEW parking charges are to come into force in Dorchester tomorrow despite protests from shopkeepers and arts lovers.

The pay and display scheme covering 263 spaces will begin in the town centre with a maximum of a one hour stay.

The move comes despite concerns from shopkeepers and Dorchester Arts Centre.

Chairman of Dorchester Arts Centre Alastair Nisbet said: “I am concerned. It is imposing, effectively, a parking tax on our users and is only going to make life more difficult.

“I am very unhappy about the situation.

“The scheme is being sold as being about making our town a better place but it is just an exercise in raising a lot of money.”

Pay and display is being introduced in the arts centre’s road, the Grove. Mr Nisbet is concerned that the charges will affect people attending performances as well as motorists picking up and dropping people off.

The new pay and display scheme will involve 26 solar powered ticket machines being fitted in and around the town centre.

It is estimated that it is costing £85,644 to set up and that the income per year will be £68,000.

Shopkeepers, particularly in High East Street, have raised concerns that the scheme will deter potential customers – especially those who wish just to pop into town quickly.

Mark Evans, owner of Great Western Camping in High East Street, said: “It’s crazy. I’ve had a lot of customers complaining already.

“Retired people don’t want to be spending their pensions on parking meters. They also need the convenience to get to the shop.

“A mother or father with children also needs the convenience to park near the shop they want to pop in to.”

Andy Ackerman, Dorset County Council head of highways, said: “The new pay and display on-street and extended residents parking schemes are an important element of the Dorchester Transport and Environment Plan (DTEP).

“Adequate parking for visitors and shoppers is needed to maintain the economic vitality and general liveliness of the town and must be carefully managed in order to reduce congestion and damage to air quality.

“By encouraging commuters to use park-and-ride into the centre of town, we are freeing town centre parking for those who live in the town and those who need short-stay parking. “This will be a great benefit for all road users in the town.”

Comments(16)

dorch says...
12:37pm Fri 31 Jul 09

nothing in this piece about how it affects the residents of the areas, the ones that use to park in linden avenue, on days off work and evenings, etc.they are just going to fill up the area,s just outside the zones.

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itsallaboutthebike says...
12:45pm Fri 31 Jul 09

Exactly, where am I going to park now at the weekend, I live in Fordington, and every weekend if I move my car I can't park anywhere near where I live, now it can only get worse.

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DORSETDEE says...
3:00pm Fri 31 Jul 09

one day the penny will drop and councilors with realise that if the shopper has to pay to shop in town we will travel to out of town complex where one can then shop all in one place and in the dry

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Genghis says...
3:35pm Fri 31 Jul 09

Lot's of people without cars have to pay to shop in town. It's called a bus fare. Oh! How my heart bleeds for the oppressed motorist.

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Peddy says...
5:39pm Fri 31 Jul 09

Quite right, Genghis. Car parks are maintained by council tax. Why should non car owners subsidise car owners even more than they do already?

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richard002 says...
11:15pm Fri 31 Jul 09

I already go to Poole Bournemouth or Yeovil on a regular basis Nothing left in Dorchester, even Tesco cant sell half the stuff that Poole or yeovil sell

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freeopinion says...
2:44pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Genghis wrote:
Lot's of people without cars have to pay to shop in town. It's called a bus fare. Oh! How my heart bleeds for the oppressed motorist.
Thank you Genghis for those few kind words.

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weymouthfox says...
4:32pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Dorchester is following Weymouth in charging for parking- having discovered how much Weymouth makes out of it. Problem is that the motortist shoppers who once went to Dorchester will now drive somewhere else- Tesco, Morrison or even Yeovil. It is very shortsighted and will drive people away from Dorchester- as it has driven people away from Weymouth in the winter.

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freeopinion says...
4:54pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Peddy wrote:
Quite right, Genghis. Car parks are maintained by council tax. Why should non car owners subsidise car owners even more than they do already?
Not quite sure how you work that one out Peddy whenever the council want to raise funds the first thing they do is up parking charges, so i think you will find that a lot of services are supported by parking charges not the other way round as you suggest.
But since we are on the subject i would like to use my bus pass (i could go to town for free) but since they decimated the bus service it makes it impossible.

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Peddy says...
8:29pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Freeopinion: Presumably you live at the Bill as the buses to Southwell are every 7-8 minutes, not exactly decimated. So you could drive to Southwell then get a free bus. What a good idea.

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Genghis says...
9:15pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Peddy wrote:
Freeopinion: Presumably you live at the Bill as the buses to Southwell are every 7-8 minutes, not exactly decimated. So you could drive to Southwell then get a free bus. What a good idea.
To be fair the buses are advertised as every 7-8 minutes. They don't run every 7-8 minutes. The evening service is diabolical. I go to my sisters in Westham every Saturday and the bus journeys back to portland in the evening can be one and a half hours or more.

However as I'm taking my Doctor's advice to get more excerise I walked it in one hour ten minutes tonight. Genghis 1 Worst National 0.

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it's me says...
9:45pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Well the new car park machines came into operation today and it is the first time (since the wall was being built) that there were no cars down the bottom end of The Grove they made a lot of money today then.How on earth can these councillors say it will ease congestion in the town and improve the air quality the cars were parked in exactly the same places before the meters as they are after the meters. To ease congestion and improve air quality is to get into the town mid morning and see where the congestion is ie: the lights at Church St/High East St letting 20 cars up through the town while the traffic going down through the town is held up if there is a vehicle turning left and if that vehicle is lucky it may get the filter light ( it doesn't always work even if you have passed over the sensors in the road)and then 3 or 4 cars might be able to get through the lights while the rest of the street up to the roundabout and beyond into Bridport Rd and down to Loders Garage is sat waiting. Also the widening of the Junction at the Trinity St, South Walks, Gt Western Rd , and Weymouth Ave would improve the traffic flow. Why don't the County Council let the Town Council sort the town out.

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Peddy says...
10:28pm Sat 1 Aug 09

Don't worry, the oil will run out soon.

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CoogarUK.com says...
11:31pm Mon 3 Aug 09

There is still free parking to be had near Dorchester town centre. Try at the bottom of Hardye Arcade, between the rear of Goulds Dept. store and Charles Street car park. The dippy council appear to have overlooked to install one of the new parking meters there. Just as they have long overlooked the fact that you are not supposed to park there as it is a pedestrianised area (with vehicular access granted, but NOT for parking - blue badge holders who are too tight to pay to park a matter of only a few yards away in the actual car park please also take note)

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CoogarUK.com says...
11:37pm Mon 3 Aug 09

It's me, it's not the traffic flow that needs sorting out in Dorchester town centre, it's a better way of keeping the traffic OUT. The sooner High West Street is pedestrianised as was planned not so long ago the better.

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Sideshow Bob says...
11:36am Tue 4 Aug 09

Has anybody else realised that whenever Mr Ackerman is mentioned in an article, it's always brining bad news for the rest of us?

Weymouth 'relief' road - a road to nowhere and only one lane each way!?!? OK........

The cycle lane and roundabout 'safety improvements' in Weymouth - Huge waste of OUR money and the roundabout is now more dangerous than ever for cyclists and motorists.

And now the parking meters in Dorchester (just remember, because they have to be 'green' they are solar powered - I think they would all look nice with hats on......)

Isn' it about time this clown left the circus? I for one would be extremely happy to see him booted out and all his ****-ups put right again.

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