Furious locals in seaside town accuse leftie councillors of 'punishing ... trends now
Locals of a seaside town have slammed leftie councillors for proposing an increase to seafront car parking charges in time for the summer holidays and the rush of tourists.
The chargeable hours for parking would be extended from 6pm to 9pm, meaning a full day would increase from £19.30 to £25 - making it one of the most expensive resorts in the UK.
Hourly rates would also increase with the cost of two hours increasing from £5.50 to £6, under the proposal drawn up by opposition Labour, Lib Dem and Independent councillors.
The overhaul, which was opposed by the minority Conservative administration and is currently out for public consultation, also involves slashing car park charges by around 11 per cent in other areas of the city, partly to help high street shops.
But restaurants, ice cream sellers and tourist businesses on the seafront say it will unfairly deter people from visiting them.
Pictured: Tracy Grove and partner Jason Grove with grandchildren Cherry, five, and 23-month-old Poppy on their visit to Southend-on-Sea
The cost of leaving your car in the car park for a full day could increase from £19.30 to £25
Pictured: The seafront of Southend on an overcast day
Pictured: Carly Bridge, 39, (right), her son Leo Bridge, nine, and partner Kayleigh Wooding, 37, (left) on their day out
The opposition councillors are trying to use their voting power to push the rise through, despite it being opposed by Conservatives who only have minority control of the council.
Dave Frost, 47, who is manager of the 92-year-old Rossi ice cream parlour in Marine Parade, said: ‘The car parking is expensive enough already.
‘A lot of people like to come down here after 6pm and have a stroll, but they are going to be put off if they have to pay.
‘I don’t drive, but a lot of people buying ice creams talk about the car parks, and say, “Do you know how much, I’ve paid?”.’
Paul Thompson, 50, who owns Pebbles One restaurant, said: ‘The whole seafront has worked hard to build up a nice evening trade – but that will be wiped out if they start charging for parking after 6pm.
‘At the moment, people are encouraged to come down in the evenings because of the free parking.
‘There is already a cost of living crisis with everyday people hit by high mortgage and energy costs. It is just unfair to get them to pay more.
‘They might come down once, but on the second time they will go somewhere cheaper. That’s human nature. It will kill off the night time economy on the seafront.
‘If you are parents with four kids and a pushchair, you are not going to be able to park in the city centre where it’s cheaper and spend half an hour walking down here.
‘It has been stated that lower charges for parking will boost business in the high street – so therefore the opposite must be the case here if the charges go up for us.’
John Carter, 79, who runs Neptunes restaurant around 200 yards from Southend’s famous pier, said: ‘It looks like they want to penalise visitors.
‘I have got 18 staff and a lot of them have to park their car to come to work. They can’t get permits and they will have to pay even more if there are charges after 6pm.
‘It is not practical for them to park in the city centre. There is also the question of some being vulnerable having to walk a long distance at night.
‘The council has to ask itself if it wants day trippers to visit us or not? People will pay reasonable charges, but they will stay away if they are too high.’
Nick Singer, 36, who is operations director for 15 seafront businesses, said: ‘I could understand it if the parking charges were going up across the city.
Paul Thompson, the owner of Pebbles One restaurant, said the evening trade would be 'wiped out' by the charges
The hourly rate on the seafront would increase from £2.80 to £3 and decrease by 11 per cent in all other areas of the city
Connor Fleming, 23, who works at the Circus Circus amusement arcade on the seafront
The beach at Southend-on-Sea is very popular with day trippers when the weather is good in the summer months
‘But they are targeting the seafront which the tourists like to visit, and cutting charges elsewhere which is unfair.
‘The seafront is the biggest attraction in the city, whether people want to go bowling, eat fish and chips or go on the beach for a paddle in the sea.
‘But these parking charges are just a tax on tourists. It is 100 per cent going to make people stay away. The council should be showing more support for the seafront.’
Connor Fleming, 23, who works at the Circus Circus amusement arcade, added: ‘People are already paying a lot, even if they just come for a few hours.
‘The early evenings are busy for us at the moment because the parking is free. Bringing in charges in the evening will only put people off.’
Philip Miller who runs the Adventure Island theme park criticised the ‘pernicious’ bid to introduce evening parking fees, describing it as a ‘fine for working people’.
In a scathing email sent to customers, he said: ‘You want to have a good time at the seaside in Southend. And why not? If you live in Southend, you have a very exciting seaside to enjoy and love.
‘Yet it seems that the Liberal Democrat Party, Labour Party, and Independent Party don’t share your love for the seaside… It is just a hit on you, for enjoying yourself and a hit on the Southend tourist trade just for being there.’
Mr Miller urged local voters to ‘think about the upcoming local elections’, in an apparent thinly masked appeal to them to vote out councillors behind the plan for higher charges.
Special needs teacher Amy Green,
