Lack Of Short Stay Car Parks In Ventnor "Hitting Local Businesses", Says Councillor

The lack of short stay car parks in Ventnor means there is an “extra expense” for shoppers which is “hitting local businesses”, an Isle of Wight councillor has said.

Ventnor and St Lawrence representative Cllr Ed Blake has lodged a motion calling for a new committee report on the ‘implications’ of converting Ventnor’s Central Car Park, ‘either in part or in full’, into a short stay offering.

The report would also cover the ‘implementation’ of the council’s Parking Strategy.

Cllr Blake’s submission will be voted on at tomorrow’s (Thursday) policy, finance and resources committee meeting.

The Conservatives’ group leader at County Hall told the press:

“The council’s Parking Strategy clearly lays out that a mixed offering of short and long stays should be available in our towns.

“However, Ventnor, despite having the joint largest amount of council car parks of any town on the Island, has an entirely long stay offering with no short stays at all.

“This is wrong and it means that there is an extra expense to shoppers popping into town for less than an hour.

“This extra tax is hitting local businesses whose customers tell them that they often think twice before heading to Ventnor rather than other towns due to the expense of parking.

“It also means that the car parks are charged 24/7 when a short stay car park would be free after 6pm. This would boost the evening economy of the town.”

His motion’s preamble says people who cannot get into one of the ‘very few limited time free spaces’ are ‘forced into a long stay car park at a minimum charge of £2.05 for an hour’.

He added it was an issue he had been working on “for over a year”, having been unable to raise it under the council’s previous cabinet governance system.