Car park charges
This may be the wrong place to put this ,but never mind
On a recent trip to stonehaven ( wonderful site ) I was amazed to find so many car parks were free of charge. there was a large country park the other side of Aberdeen lovely area and the car park was free, as were car parks in the Montrose area .Can you imagine Devon or Cornwall doing this I think not . Well done Scotland East.
The other thing is everyone is friendly up there and pleased to welcome you ,not like the west country grab grab.
Moderator Comment - Charlie, for future reference posts like this should be posted in the discussion area where I will move it to. By all means contribute a blog of what you have been upto complete with photos in the Story Section.
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I’m sure Devon & Cornwall will note your comments, Charlie.
You have to remember how an area raises its income and we Council Tax payers in Cornwall are grateful to all you visitors for helping our economy which relies hugely on the tourist industry to keep us solvent.
Presumably, East Scotland is a much more affluent area and, as such, can afford to subsidise parking.
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The fact that they are free could be down to all sorts of reasons not least the fact that the ones you mention are in a different jurisdiction. It may also be that they are less well used and the cost of installing a payment method might not give sufficient return to warrant the expenditure? There are some parts of the UK where parking is a real issue and charging, as well as contributing to local coffers, may also be a method of management.
David
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You make a fair point there, David, with regards to parking being a real issue. Space comes into that and space is at a premium on our SW peninsula.
It’s short sighted not to consider the whole picture with regards to infrastructure, population and economy of an area when moaning about car park charges but it looks like the OP won’t be bothering us down here again.
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Against the cost of his caravan, I would have thought that Charlie Brown considered parking charges, Peanuts.
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Have you been in the Lakes lately, K. They certainly know how to charge there too...eg £8 all day in Grasmere.
It's not just the North of Scotland where there's free parking, it was free in the Borders too, at Jedburgh for example, where the museums too are free.
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CY, you're totally wasted with this bunch, lol....
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The only reason I joined th NT last year on a special price of £45 quid was the so called free parking, already saved £21 and at £8.0 day in borowdale will soon be in profit plus our tour in Cornwall which will save me another £40 odd quid,pity the NT does not run the hospital car parks another rip off.🙂
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They started to charge in our small village car park outside the village Dr surgery. At first the first hour was free but that only lasted for a year. Now charges apply all the time. The result - what was once a busy convenient car park is now always almost empty, with everyone parked all over the adjoining estate. Nonsensical !
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Another reason for high charges in some tourist areas is to keep traffic out of popular overcrowded towns and villages. Hence more park and rides in many places etc.
On the other hand, some places need to attract visitors in, so free parking is a great draw. As places become busier you'll no doubt find charges are introduced.
So if you want to join the crowds, there's a premium to pay although I think residents might get permits in some places so they are not subjected to the same charges.
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Toured southern Scotland last year. We stopped in a tourist area and wandering around bemused a local asked if they could assist. I explained that I could not find the parking rules or pay and display machine. He replied 'don't worry, they tried to impose them a few years back, we saw them off'. Never paid a penny in parking for the whole tour. D&G area, I salute you.
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The Stonehaven site is fine, though I don't think much of Stoney itself. However, you will find that there is generally free parking to be found in most places here, except perhaps in the cities. (Aberdeen centre is usually £1 per hour. Elgin is £1 all day) Nearly all the supermarkets have large free car parks without height barriers.
Parking for patients and visitors at hospitals is free too.
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What ever you do - do not come to Tunbridge Wells. They will charge you for everything - no such thing as free parking. The traffic wardens are waiting to get you wheel clamped and towed away ASAP.
If you so much as 'trump' in the lift they will get you with a large ASBO fine .
Think I will move up into the borders although me accent might be a bit too funny for them
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Cornwall was better when they had District Councils not a County Council. When it had a North Cornwall DC, if you used a carpark in one area and moved onto another and there was still time left on your ticket it was transferrable. Not so anymore. We have just come back from a month in Cornwall and the cost of the carparks was higher then our local carpark here in West London. And as you are never sure how long you are going to be looking around or sitting on a beach, you inevitably put more in the machine to cover just in case. One day we went to Penzance and parked at the harbour. We walked through the town to the Penlee Art Gallery (there was an exhibition on we wanted to see). Coming back we went through some delightful gardens and then back down to the seafront. We still had nearly 1 hour left on the meter. So, we had our packed lunch sitting in the car, 'cos I was damned I was going to leave before my time was up. Pathetic I know. Why can't they have "pay when you return" system, that way you will only pay for the time you were there.
And don;t get me started on the bus services!!!
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Cornwall had many things better when there were District Councils.
I don’t think you can compare car parking charges here with those in W London or reasons stated earlier in the thread. It’s largely down to the economy of the area and it’s my guess that Cornwall is the poorer of the two and needs to raise more income.
If you mean bus services in Cornwall, it’s again due to economics as companies simply cannot afford to run services at a loss in a rural area covering many miles with little demand from the population.
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I think you have to know somewhere pretty well to benefit from cheaper parking. It's no use comparing Scotland with England, they are administered by different Parliaments, and have different priorities. Some places are remarkably cheap, even free, other just aren't. I do agree with comment about Cornwall being different since it became a County Council. We know Penzance very well, and luckily can usually find somewhere to park for free, but if you don't, then the harbour is the most obvious place, and you do have to pay!
Its a sad fact that outside of London, local transport is shocking. That's why so many folks complain when so much gets spent in London!
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Car park charges do vary in Cornwall. This link may help and the previous page tells of MH parking.
MHs -
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/parking/cornwall-council-car-parks/
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I think it was the Morrab Gardens. If we hadn't left the packed lunch in the car, I agree it would have been a lovely spot to have our packed lunch. We had enough time to walk back to the car and get them, but I couldn't face the uphill walk back to the gardens, having walked up to the Penlee Gallery already. My arthritic knees wouldn't take it. Oh the joys of growing old. Used to be a time when hills were no bother (hill walking in Scotland was a favourite pastime) and mountain biking in the summer months you could use the ski runs. In Cornwall used to love doing the Coast to Coast, the Camel Trail and the Pentewan to Mevagissey off roader. Maybe that's why my knees are shot, lol.
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Oh well, you got to the gallery and saw the gardens! We got the bus in from Helston last time we visited, I used to live in the area many years ago and I still like to return to some old haunts. But as you say some places are getting more challenging to visit and Penzance is only flat along the sea front. At least you found some parking!
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New Zealand was even cheaper, but does not cover parking which was not a problem but now is with introduction of smart cards that know which country they are registered with, and insist a ticket is placed on the vehicle, gone are the days of just the sticker in the window.
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"At least you found some parking! "
I tell you what we found as well Brue, there is a carpark by the Gallery and sports club that is £1.90 for 12 hours. However, we reckoned you needed to be there at the crack of dawn to get a parking space and judging by the cars circulating round it and playing a me first game when a space became available, it is probably the most popular carpark in Penzance. If we had known about it before we parked at the harbour, I would have been prepared to play me first too, lol.
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Just come back from Hampshire. In Fareham district, apart from the town itself, parking was free. So parks overlooking the sea, free, village car park, free, so we shopped at the village shops. (It was cheaper than driving to a supermarket.) We used the park and ride in Winchester. £3 to park and a car full of people get the bus free.
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