Cafe owner says huge ‘excessive’ car park prices are costing him customers
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A man has complained that incredibly expensive car parking charges in his town is driving away business for his cafe and other people in the area.
Weymouth resident Nigel Sims-Duff says car parking charges are 'excessive' and unfair as they're lower in other towns in the county.
He owns the Palm House Cafe - located near a couple of council owner car parks - which would normally be a pretty good thing as there'd be all sorts of people coming through.
However, Nigel has a problem with the excessive cost of parking which he says is too much, especially compared to nearby towns.
From the start of April until the end of October, his nearby car parks are on their summer list of charges, meaning anyone wanting to stash their car there has to fork over £4.50.
Nigel is demanding that the council charge the same price for their car parks regardless of which town they're in and has launched a petition asking them to do this 'with immediate effect'.
Over 1,400 people have signed his petition where he complains that summer parking fees in Weymouth are £4.50 for a couple of hours, whereas in other Dorset towns of Dorchester, Blandford, Bridport and Wimborne it's just £1.50.
Asking how it was 'fair' for people to pay three times as much in one town than others he said people 'should not be ripped off anymore' whether they be local residents or people visiting on holiday.
He accused Dorset Council of 'penalising Weymouth residents and visitors against those living in or visiting other Dorset towns', claiming that Weymouth was 'subsidising the cheaper parking elsewhere in the county'.
Nigel went on to argue that the higher cost of parking in the seaside town was affecting local people's businesses as some people weren't coming and others were cutting their visit short to dodge expensive parking fees.
People who've signed up to his petition slammed the 'absolutely ridiculous prices' of parking and argued that 'less people are coming into town'.
Someone else said the town centre would 'decline even further' and another agreed that it was 'extortionate' and would cause Weymouth to become 'a ghost town'.
Responding to the petition a spokesperson for Dorset Council told the Dorset Echo that parking costs would have a 'minimal' impact on Weymouth residents and businesses.
They said: "As is the case for everyone, we are unfortunately faced with rising costs and we announced in March that we would need to meet these by increasing the cost of parking in some of our car parks.
"We have aimed to keep the impact on residents and businesses to a minimum, with not all tariffs increasing."
"No one welcomes price increases, especially during times of rising living costs, so we have designed the increases and permits to have the least impact on Dorset residents, workers, and businesses."
LADbible have contacted Dorset Council for comment.
