28 March (Part 2) - Parking charges up by 25% and extended to evenings and Sundays
Bexley
council is expecting parking revenue to fall during the next year by about half a
million pounds. Their reaction is exactly what you would expect from the meagre
intellect that fills the Civic Centre, they are increasing all the charges and
extending chargeable hours to Sundays and through the night in Bexleyheath;
except at the Cinema car park where the terms of the lease forbid it.
This will result in privately operated car parks costing 50 pence an hour and the
council ones which are close by or even adjacent costing twice as much. The current
price differential results in council car parks lying half empty while cars
queue for the supermarket’s car parks so the situation can only get worse. Last
Friday afternoon I photographed all of Bexleyheath’s central car parks within the space of
20 minutes. The result may be seen on a new feature page.
Bexley council claims that the increased charges will produce £208,000 of
additional revenue. That is going to depend on how many people decide to vote with their steering wheels.