Council set to scrap one-hour charges at city's car parks

“Huzzah! Derby will now be immune to the problems blighting the High Street.”

“It seems that Paul Robinson is the strategic director of neighbourhoods. It's difficult to see which neighbourhoods will benefit from this change.

The trouble though may be that the issues raised in everyone's comments, is to do with the wider economy of Derby.

It would be good to think that someone who is a strategic director would consider the wider economy when making a decision like this. Or is it above his pay grade?”

“So we are loosing our beloved Co-op after all these years, adding to the city devastation that has already struck Derby with the problems at Millets, HMV and Blockbuster.
But never mind, all is saved, because I read in the same paper that Paul Robinson, Strategic Director of Neighbourhoods, whatever that is, is formulating a fiendish plan that will undoubtedly be the salvation of retail marketing in the city centre. It involves increasing the parking charge for an hour from £1.60 to £3.00, which Mr Robinson assures us is in line with inflation. He clearly did not get his maths lessons at my school, where off the top of my head the increase is nearly 100%. Careful, Mr Robinson, you may not have a neighbourhood to be Strategic Director of soon.
Holedriller”

“The only reason I go into town is the same reason I refuse to tax my car online, because I don't like seeing places going out of business and people losing their jobs, but i must say DCC you are making it rather hard for me to keep supporting the traders in the city center! I'm seeing some sad times for Derby traders ahead of us.”

“Anti car Derby strikes again.
Not only will this drive shoppers out of town, it will also drive businesses out of town.
Give it another couple of years and the only thing moving in the town centre will be tumbleweed blowing in the wind.”

“Why can you not pay a 3 hour parking rate?, is it because it is a very popular time cycle , whereas 2 hours is too short and 4 hours to long.So according to the revised parking tariff published in todays paper, parking for 3 hours is not a tariff, you need to pay for a new tariff of 2 to 4 hours , so a 3 hour stay will cost an extra 90p, a bit more than inflation !”

“Dear Paul Robinson
In case you haven't been watching the news over the last few days, HMV is closing as is Blockbuster and parts of the Co-op so do you really think putting up car parking charge is a wise move? As well as forcing shoppers to the out of town Stores, you'll lose more and more in business rates as more shoppers go out of business.
"If you take the overall changes in charges, they will be in line with inflation.....forget inflation and get real...if you want businesses in Derby and people to shop in them make it attractive for them”

“I think Burton have done something similar in recent weeks, so someone has come up with a set of stats that is driving this and is hawking them around local authorities. I expect the model will produce a short term increase in parking revenue, but does nothing for traders, and with more empty shops the number of people paying to park will drop in the medium and long term.

The justification in Burton was that someone staying two hours in a shopping area will spend more than someone stopping an hour. Which ignores the fact that people will only spend the money they have - if I have a tenner in my pocket I'm not going to spend £20 because I've had to pay for longer parking. And I expect a trader would prefer two people through the door than 1 person staying twice as long.

I'm not sure what the best policy for parking is. Free/ very cheap short stay parking would be a good start.”

“Another silly idea by our council...”

“I am a trader in Allenton and I believe that ample free parking is the life blood of high street retail (even if it is for ½ hour or 1 hour). I also assumed when I first read the headline that there would be 1 hour free, which I thought was a brilliant proactive idea to help our struggling City retailers. Then I read the report! To say the rise is "in line with inflation" is a weak justification. Has anybody seen what's happening to the economy? Retailers need help not hindrance. If the high street is to be saved some radical thinking and some radical policies need to be put into place by the council. Today's breaking news is that the CO Op department store is to shut with the loss of more jobs. Some of the many empty units in the centre are just being replaced with numerous places to drink coffee! With decreased footfall even these will eventually struggle. Let me see now - shall I go into town and park at an overpriced car park, or risk a fine from an over zealous traffic warden because I've overstayed on my meter for 5 minutes. Or shall I just "click and buy"! Wake up Derby City Council and DO SOMETHING to help struggling retailers! (As I'm sure reducing their already high business rates isn't on the agenda) Rant over.”