Less than 24 hours after voting to introduce evening and overnight car parking charges, Dorset Council has announced it will pause the decision, pending a review.
Local councillors, business owners and residents across rural Dorset had been vocal in their opposition to the move. Cllr Jane Somper of Beacon Ward said ‘Businesses, – especially hospitality – volunteers who give their time to cultural events, and care workers and residents who live in towns (and in nearby villages) in the north will all be affected by this decision.’
North Dorset MP Simon Hoare had been particularly open about his opposition to the charges, saying in his recent column in The BV: ‘I fail to see how financially this will stack up given the costs needed to impose and enforce it.
‘Night-time charges will hit local hospitality and leisure businesses across all of our North Dorset towns, as well as impacting negatively on local residents – for example, in Blandford and Shaftesbury, where people use car parks in the evenings, when there is pressure on on-street capacity. These cars are off to work etc before the next business day starts.’
He added today: ‘Our arts and cultural sector together with pubs and restaurants depend upon evening trade, and volunteer and community/sporting groups meet in the evening too. All of these will be hit adversely as a result [of the 24 hour charges].’
The opposition to the move has lead to a U-turn on the vote just a day later, as Dorset Council announced this afternoon that: ‘Plans to introduce an evening and overnight parking charge in Dorset Council car parks have been paused.’
The statement goes on to say that ‘Having listened to initial concerns from councillors and the public, it is clear the introduction of such charges should not be decided until a thorough review of all parking services has taken place.’
The Council warns this review may take up to nine months to complete, but will involve local residents and business owners, saying: ‘This will give us a better understanding of changing trends in car park usage, how the location of our car parks affects parking behaviour, and the impact of all parking charges on residents, visitors and local businesses.
‘Therefore, we will not be progressing the introduction of evening and overnight parking charges at this time.’
