Tonight a petition against high parking charges in the Borough will be presented to the Weymouth & Portland Borough Council public meeting by Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce, Vice President Scott Aitken. The on-line petition has been signed by over 1100 members of the public and business community who are protesting about the high car parking charges in Weymouth and Portland.
Michelle Hind, President of the Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce said “I am sorry that I am not able to attend the public meeting myself however I am hoping that the petition will be recognised and accepted by the local authority and scheduled for debate at a later stage. What I do not want is for the matter to be brushed under the carpet or masked with promises to look at parking charges in the future.” Ms Hind went on the say “I will also be asking MP Richard Drax to support the campaign and super the governments regulations and recommendations. I will challenge the council to recognise the government and adhere to their recommendations. The government’s regulations and recommendations were made for a reason and good reason and should be taken into consideration! Parking charges should not be used for revenue. I intend to organise a protest outside the council offices when the matter goes to debate.”
The petition was organised by Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce, with the support of Weymouth BID and local guest house owners. In 2014 the car parking charges in Weymouth and Portland were cut significantly, to encourage more people to come into the area.
After just one year, the council says that this change has made no difference to the numbers of people using the car parks, and they want to raise the charges to generate more income.
A Deregulation Bill and guidelines will be given Royal Assent in April who recommends that parking charges are not used to make a profit and allowing the public to petition and appeal against the local authority’s decision to increase parking charges for revenue and against the hard ball approach taken by them in respect of parking fines.
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