Hawkshead parking restrictions are 'making people feel unwelcome'

5:33pm Wednesday 5th September 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Daniel Orr, Reporter

RESIDENTS in Hawkshead claim new parking meters are affecting tourism and trade in the honeypot village.

More than 50 local people and business owners turned out to a public meeting on Tuesday evening where they expressed their unhappiness at the Parking Eye system in place on the main car park, owned by Lake District National Park Authority.

Drivers face a £90 fine should they go over their allotted time, and many believe this is putting people off visiting Hawkshead.

Kim Merrick, who runs Poppi Red, in Main Street, said: “It is scandalous and greedy. So many people have said to me that they won’t come back here next year because of the parking problem.

“People are rushing back to their cars and not enjoying their time here. We are making people feel unwelcome.”

David Nixon, LDNPA operations manager, organised the meeting because he was eager to address residents’ concerns, but added: “This system has been put in place because we were having so many people not paying for their parking.”

Dougie Bell, of Walker Ground Manor B&B, said: “Why was there no public consultation? Pay on exit seems to be a good way of dealing with this. It is the biggest problem that people have in Hawkshead.”

Simon Butterworth, of Collins and Butterworth pharmacy, said: “It is having a detrimental affect. We are getting a vast number of complaints from people.

“My business gets people from as far away as Coniston and Newby Bridge and they have got nowhere to park.”

Mr Nixon added: “If you are getting these complaints, we need to know about them. We have had 22 people complaining - appealing their fines - and 62,000 people have used the car park. You must get these people to complain to us. If we work together we might be able to sort something out.”

Residents agreed to look into setting up a working group.

Comments(7)

snuggle-bunny says...
10:24pm Wed 5 Sep 12

the word 'luddite' springs to mind

Report this post »

Lakeuk says...
11:19pm Wed 5 Sep 12

LDNPA clearly have their head in the sand if they think there isn't a problem with the Parking Eye system they've introduced, read through the comments on Tripadviser for Brockhole, search moneysavingexpert forums for "parking eye lake district", look on local forums and it's plain to see that a lot of visitors to the lakes are being affected by this issue. Visitors vital to local tourism that end up spending their leisure time and money elsewhere.

Why are LDNPA and SLDC such failures when it comes to parking

Report this post »

Cas220 says...
12:53am Thu 6 Sep 12

It's not just the fine - if I remember right there is a higher per hour rate. We visited a few months ago and only really had the time to walk through the village and then eat our dinner in the car as we refused to pay for more than an hour.
Is this 'parking eye' the same system as the one being introduced in Kendal? If LDNPA and SDLC want to encourage people into our towns and villages they really should provide some free parking, how much exactly do they spend on the 'upkeep' of these car parks? Although you have to wonder why one part of the council is taking steps to make people drive into Kendal while another is trying to stop people driving into town....

Report this post »

life cycle too says...
8:57am Thu 6 Sep 12

As I understand it, under the law at present, the driver who enters a non council car park is entering into a contract with Parking Eye, but any penalty CHARGE notice goes to the registered keeper - who may well not be the driver at that time, in which case the RK is entitled to tear up the notice and ignore all correspondence - even to sue Parking Eye for harassment if they get over enthusiastic in pursuing the matter.

It would seem therefore that it is worth getting a partner to park the car rather than the registered keeper!

Aforementioned MoneySavingExpert.co
m has the details!

Report this post »

life cycle too says...
9:02am Thu 6 Sep 12

Is it possible to get a personalised registration with PI55 OFF yet?

Report this post »

Gingery says...
9:03pm Fri 7 Sep 12

LDNPA operate Waterhead car park too. Bearing in mind the recent publicity re SLDC introducing overnight charges I assumed if I was parking after 8pm I'd need a 12 hour overnight ticket. I was running late for a meal at the Waterhead Hotel, had just helped a foreign tourist who asked me for directions and info, and didn't read the bit that said charges only apply 8am-8pm. Paid £7 and only when I read the ticket expiry (7.30pm next day) did I realise I actually only need have paid for 30 mins. Felt really stupid.

Two years ago I parked in Whitby, paid for 1 hour whilst I met with a friend. At the time we were sat opposite the car park, chatting about a fairly serious subject. He said "I'll look out for the warden, you'll be ok don't rush back". Err listening to him landed me with a £90 fine(60 if paid promptly), and we didn't see any warden. He must have been very quick. Fair enough I did exceed my time, and yes I deserved the ticket - which is why I always pay for far longer than I require. A pound or two saves £90. I do however know of people how always only ever pay for the minimum time and are always rushing back to their cars, often to find a penalty notice. Penalties have to be made because otherwise you'd have people pushing the limit all the time(just as I did that once).

Our roads and car parks are full and I don't know what the answer is.

Report this post »

darren m says...
6:19pm Tue 11 Sep 12

We were at the boating centre at Coniston and LDNPA have put a new system in that park park aswell. This one seems much fairer, lets you pay when you return and charges you only for how long you have been there. Maybe they will start putting this in other places in the future.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree