Why MSDC's Parking Policies Damage the Local Economy

Last week the local newspaper carried the story that drivers would no longer have to enter their registration nuumbers in MSDC long stay parking machines. This is a victory for people who use these car parks, but fundamental problems with the system remain.

Yesterday I was talking to a local businesswoman. She was irate that she had received another parking ticket. She had parked, paid and gone to a meeting at her accountant. The meeting over ran and she returned to the car three minutes late to find it had been ticketed. She told me that this had happened so many times, that now she goes to Tunbridge Wells to shop and meet up with people. In Tunbridge Wells parking is paid for on exit from the carpark. So you can stay as long as you want, do that extra shopping, have that coffee and chat to a friend and then pay for the length of time you have parked. In the Mid Sussex towns, you pay for the parking up front and if you overrun your estimated stay, you are penalised.

Which system encourages people to shop, eat and spend money in a town?

East Grinstead residents are concerned about empty shops and traders find it dificult to keep their businesses going in the town centre. It is customers that keep shops alive. It doesn't matter what the rent is, or how the economy is doing, so long as a business gets enough customers it will flourish. In the Mid Sussex towns; East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill, we have a parking system which actively discourages people from lingering in the town centres and spending their money. It clearly has to change.

Recently MSDC published their much anticipated parking strategy. It was a weak document that did nothing to address the problems I have detailed above. Obviously the current Conservative administration has no intention of making the much needed changes.

The local Liberal Democrats know that the current system is wrong. We know because we have asked the people who use the system and are affected by it. We have talked to drivers, shoppers and business owners. We believe that local people know their communities best and that the answers do not come from hiring expensive consultants.

Mid Sussex urgently needs a parking system that encourages local people to use and enjoy their town centres, rather than penalise them for doing so. Local Liberal Democrats are committed to working with the communities of Mid Sussex to deliver exactly that.