A photograph highlighting how the introduction of parking charges from 1st March (eight weeks earlier than previously) has had on Sandown businesses has over 658 shares on Facebook.
The Isle of Wight Executive voted last summer to extend the charging period and the new regulations came into effect from 1st March.
The “council are killing this town”
The photo was posted by Sandown businessman, Jon Platt , along with the message,
“The decision of the IW Isle of Wight Council to introduce parking charges from 1st March on Sandown Esplanade has had the desired effect! All business owners in Sandown will be delighted that this brave new policy will prevent the stampede of customers in March that they have all been experiencing.
“Indeed they can all close up and send their staff home for a couple of months as this picture shows, not a single car on Sandown seafront this morning. If you think our council are killing this town with a succession of mind numbingly stupid policies like this, please like this post and feel free to comment if you disagree.
“And yes, before you ask, they caught me on March 2nd because I was unaware that the parking regulations had changed. I was the only car on Sandown Esplanade and I hadn’t paid and displayed so they had a Civil Enforcement Officer on hand to punish me to the tune of £25.”
Although the photo was taken just after 8am, Jon says when he returned at 5.45pm the parking bays were still empty and he’d been told it had been the same most of the day.
He said the next day he arrived later at 8.30am and could only see two vehicles parked on the seafront, When he left his office at 11.30am there were no more than four cars on the entire esplanade.
Businesses taking “a massive hit”
Jon’s photo has not only attracted over 650 shares, but also many comments from other local businesses.
Hayley Staley of Ocean Deck restaurant says,
“March was a great month last year, this year it has taken a massive hit! Unbelievable!”
Jon told OnTheWight,
“There were at least 40 cars on the seafront every morning in February and it was busier throughout the day than it is now!”
Empty shops
Jon followed up with a gallery of empty shops in Sandown, asking Facebook friends to Like and Share if they believe the changes to parking charges should be abandoned.
At time of publishing, a whopping 1,762 people had shared the post.
Response from the council
In response to the photo, Cllr Luisa Hillard, Executive member for sustainability, environment and public realm, said,
“The introduction of car parking charges with effect from the beginning of March is in response to the significant financial pressures the council is facing in delivering its responsibilities for highway and related activities.
“A photograph taken early on a single morning cannot be considered a true reflection of the new parking arrangements on Sandown Esplanade, especially as no comparative information is available.
“Because of this, it is far too early to make any judgements about the impact of these changes, which apply not only on Sandown seafront but also in all of the council’s seasonal parking areas such as Shanklin, Ventnor and Cowes esplanades. The council will however monitor the position and review this particular approach when developing its new car parking strategy.”
Article edit
Updated the article on Wednesday 11th with response from Cllr Hillard
