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COUNCIL NETS £4M IN PARKING CHARGES

Thursday, November 12th 2009 06:50

The Island's Council pocketed nearly £4m in parking fees and fines in just one year.

The Island's Council pocketed nearly £4m in parking fees and fines in just one year.

Isle of Wight Radio can reveal between April 2008 and March 2009 the local authority made £3,990,828. Yet it costs less than £2m to run the service.

30,355 penalty charge notices were issued for the same period - 6,304 of them were challenged which equates to about 20%.

Members of the public and some business leaders have accused the council of using parking as an indirect stealth tax. However the local authority has told Isle of Wight Radio any surplus cash is ploughed back into improving parking, roads and other transport services.

The local authority has also confirmed it's looking into allowing motorists to pay to park by using their mobile phone. The scheme would involve calling a local rate number and supplying details of the car park location, length of stay and vehicle registration, then making payment by credit or debit card. The local authority says it would mean, "No more searching for change and motorists could even top up their parking stay should they be delayed returning to their vehicle".

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Comments

What are your thoughts on "COUNCIL NETS £4M IN PARKING CHARGES"?

  1. light dawns when u see all those empty bays on the esplanade at ryde after the extension of year round parking. perhaps there should remain a free period for local residents-oh lets call it out of season! oct-apr. Also fail to see the logic of charging folks for being 20mins late due to late ferries after having purchased tickets up to £6,7,8 should target evaders not erors.
    Report this comment Posted by wighthandman, ryde on Nov 12th 2009 11:09PM
  2. Good News, the offenders are making a worthwhile contribution to safety and maintenance of island roads as well as subsidised transport. They are also taking some of the strain off other Council tax payers. Of course,I wouldn't expect them to see it like this!!
    Report this comment Posted by John Vosper, Whitwell on Nov 12th 2009 8:14AM

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