Concerns over impact of parking charge increases at Dorset harbours
Groups in West Bay and Lyme Regis are worried it might put off visitors
Dorset Council has come under pressure for the high parking fees it imposed last year for resort towns.
Harbour groups at West Bay and Lyme Regis say they remain concerned about the impact of the parking charges for the economy of both areas.
Both say they have seen a declined in visitors and fear that tourists and local visitors will continue to be put off by the £15 per day summer parking charges.
“The charges increased last year from £2 to £15 a day, although £2 was extremely cheap, but raising it to £15 is causing concern for the traders at West Bay…it’s more like central London prices than West Bay,” said Gavin Brooking from the West Bay Harbour Consultative Group.
He said that efforts to get actual figures from Dorset Council had been difficult but the Chamber of Commerce believe that there has been a 23% fall in parking at West Bay year on year.
“The (Dorset) Council have put it down to weather, but I don’t think that is likely,” he told a meeting of the Dorset Council harbours consultative committee.
He said that almost everyone felt the charges were not sustainable and wanted the council to look at reducing the costs.
Similar concerns were raised by Nick Marks from the Lyme Regis Harbour Consultative group, telling the committee that in addition to visitors the cost of parking was important to those who had moorings at the harbour, which could partly be the reason for a fall in demand for boat spaces for the coming season.
Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for highways and harbours, Ray Bryan, who was at the meeting, insisted that much of the fall in car park use at both harbours had been down to poor weather in July and August, although he said that use of more inland car parks had increased.
He asked those with concerns to also take into account what he said had been a fantastic summer the year before, but offered no hope of a review of the charges.
Dorset Council has said that, at the moment, it has no plans to increase overall car parking fees in its car parks this year, although the normal summer-winter changes will still operate.
The stand-still for car parking fees comes at a time when most council charges in other areas will be increasing by 5% from April.