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Tonbridge firms fear for future as council proposes newe parking fee
KentOnline / KMTV
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13/10/2023
The council Leader hopes this will free up parking spaces for those wishing to go out for the evening, and deter residential parking.
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00:00
Tunbridge residents could soon be reaching into their purse for an extra two hours a
00:05
night as the council considers increasing night time parking charges at most of its
00:10
46 car parks in the borough. A scary thought for businesses who fear this could drive away
00:16
customers.
00:18
Turek's had his business on the high street for several years. Covid hit his restaurant
00:23
with fewer people stopping in for lunch and he's concerned that an extension on night
00:28
time parking could leave him with empty tables.
00:31
"Hard time at the moment, still getting harder as well. If car park charging few pound, people
00:39
they thinking about it. They change their minds. You know what I mean? If I want to
00:43
go somewhere nice, car park I'm going to few pound. I'm not going that one, I'm going to
00:48
go that one. They have got the car park free, I'll park there and eat meal there."
00:52
But this isn't the only business who has alarm bells ringing. Serhan's restaurant is facing
00:57
similar concerns.
01:01
Parking here has become a regular occurrence for Serhan's staff as it's just around the
01:04
corner from his restaurant. But it's currently costing them around £14 a day to park here
01:09
and that's with the free parking from 6. He says if the council do raise these fees past
01:14
6 o'clock, he doesn't know how his staff are going to cope.
01:17
"It's a massive disappointment if I'm honest with you. It's bad enough that the car parking
01:21
has gone up dramatically. Our staff used to be able to park in the car park for about
01:25
£5 for the whole day and the evening. They struggle to park now as well and to have evening
01:30
charges is ridiculous."
01:32
It's no secret that councils across Kent and the rest of the country have come into gloomy
01:37
days with mounting financial pressures. And the leader of Tunbridge and Morling Borough
01:42
Council says he simply has to find a way to balance the books.
01:46
"At the moment they finish at 6 o'clock but we're consulting on whether that should extend
01:51
to 8 o'clock. That would free up spaces in the evenings which is a particular time in
01:56
which high streets are being used. So we need to make sure that we've got capacity in our
02:00
car parks. So we hope people will be able to have their say during the consultation
02:04
next month and share any thoughts they've got with us."
02:07
"I understand the council need to fill their coffers but I think it's a bit of a backward
02:13
step."
02:14
"I think it's a bit counterproductive because it'll put people off coming in. We come from
02:18
near Rochester where they charge till about 10 and it is a bit off-putting I think."
02:23
"Looking at it from the other point of view, the council has got to increase its revenue
02:28
and parking's a reasonably solid way of doing that."
02:32
"I think it's unfair on all the families who live in flats and only have like one parking
02:36
space but two cars. Why would they try to get money out of us even at night time? Isn't
02:41
it hard for us enough?"
02:43
A tricky time for businesses, councillors and residents alike as they try to cope with
02:48
financial pressures. But locals hope they can work together to ensure the high street
02:53
continues to thrive during these hard times.
02:56
Sophia Akin for KMTV in Tunbridge.
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