Concerns over plans to charge at free car parks

Residents are concerned that plans to start charging in a free car park in East Sussex will deter people from using it and fill up neighbouring roads instead.

Little Common Recreation Ground car park, in Green Lane, Bexhill, is one of several free car parks in the district that might start charging between 25p to 85p an hour.

Rother District Council’s consultation ends on Friday and a decision will be made in February next year.

The council said it had “difficult choices” to make as it tried to address the financial shortfall it was facing.

Dog walker Roger Firman told BBC Radio Sussex: “They just closed the public toilets there too. If they bring in the parking charges, a lot of people will just start parking on the street.

“You have the problem with the sports events, on a Saturday morning you have the kids playing sports. The car park will be absolutely full. Do you ask all the parents to pay to bring their kids?

“For cricket matches, someone could be here for six or seven hours. The football club sometimes get crowds of 200 to 250, are you telling players they will have to pay for parking?”

Another resident said: “There’s no facilities here now, they closed the public toilets over a year ago. If there were more facilities, maybe I wouldn’t object to paying a small amount to park. It’s completely wrong.”

The proposed rise in hourly rates ranges from 25p to 85p depending on where and how long people would stay.

A spokesperson for the council said: “Rother District Council, like councils across the country, is facing significant pressures as costs and demand increases and funding from central government reduces.

“To raise more income to help fill our funding gap, we are currently consulting on proposals to add charges to our car parks where there is currently not a charge.

"However, no decisions will be made before the responses to the consultation have been received and we encourage people to have their say on the proposals by completing the consultation survey.”

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