PEOPLE remain ‘angry and frustrated’ with Dorset Council over expensive car park charges in Weymouth and other coastal towns.

The claim comes from businessman Nigel Sims-Duff who says the council should come up with a fairer system by increasing fees in market towns from 75p to £1 an hour and reducing Weymouth and other seaside town rates to £1 an hour.

“It’s in your hands now to make some changes. The voices of Weymouth residents and other beach town should be heard… I don’t want to come back here again in the spring with another petition,” he told Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.

More than 7,600 signatures have now been collected on a petition which claims the higher charges are damaging Weymouth’s economy and should be reduced. Day-long charges now stand at £15 for town centre parking.

A report from the Council says there is no evidence to support a hit to the economy with Cllr Bryan claiming Mr Sims-Duff is the only Weymouth business to complain. 

Highways Portfolio holder Cllr Ray Bryan defended the increases charges and attacked the media for what he claimed were stories ‘knocking’ Weymouth because of the fees. 

“There has been a little bit of damage by this exercise which has carried on in the media and I hope the media will acknowledge, with me, just how good Weymouth is to visit…acknowledge all the work we have done in Weymouth to improve it.”

He said he frequently visited Custom House Quay in Weymouth, which the council had re-designed, and had seen businesses which were booming with full tables.

Cllr Bryan said he was willing to work with Weymouth BID and others to find ways forward and had meetings planned in the coming weeks with Weymouth Town Council and town councillor Christine James who had offered some idea about improving the car parking provision.

He said the only complaint from any Weymouth business had come from Mr Sims-Duff who runs the Palm House Café and that the changes to car parking tiers had been supported by opposition councillors as well as the controlling Conservative group.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure we get the right result on this … we should be proud of Weymouth and not knocking it. I hope the media gets that message across,” he said.

Mr Sims-Duff told the meeting that all councillors had to do was look at the letters pages to the Dorset Echo or read social media to find out the truth about people’s concerns over the council-imposed charges.

“You claimed in March that you were minimising the cost increases on Dorset residents and businesses but you, unashamedly, maximised them on Weymouth residents, businesses and other beach towns.

“These places don’t have a magical pot of gold in the summer because we have a beach, or that visitors will come to the shops of cafes whatever the (parking) prices. It is clear to me that visitors are not coming back in the numbers they were and nor will many ever be coming back… we cannot risk them not coming back … people are not stupid and nor should they be taken for granted. Car park charges are like a tax on parking and like any tax, if it’s too high, revenues will actually decrease as people try to avoid paying it.”

He suggested it was better to fill more spaces at a lower rate and suggested the council should also consider night-time charges, scrapping the short-term residents parking permit and finding more parking spaces.

“You have the power to make (Dorset) more attractive to visit with cheaper parking so people visit more often, stay longer and spend more. It shouldn’t only be the wealthy market towns in Dorset having cheap car parking all year round … you should be representing everyone in Dorset equally,” said Mr Sims-Duff.

Highways portfolio holder Cllr Ray Bryan said the issue for the council was how to maintain revenue “from the best possible areas”. He said he had evidence from another café owner that the year had been busy and offered support for the short-term permits, although called on the council for a better park and ride services, something which Cllr Bryan said was being looked at, along with the idea of installments to pay for the more expensive annual permits.

Cllr Bryan said income from the charges was ring-fenced for highway maintenance. He said the council lost 20per cent of all car park income in VAT and paid £1m a year in business rates for its car parks.

“It’s important to understand that we have to look at where our best avenue of income comes from and adapt, accordingly,” said Cllr Bryan.

He said some of the car park figures were up, some were down, although went on to say that the historic car park useage data Dorset Council had been handed by the former Weymouth and Portland Borough Council was non-existent, or extremely limited.

Cllr Bryan said there would be a full review every year to ensure that the charges were set at the correct level and said the council would look again at whether short-stay could be increased by an hour, with other changes also to be considered, in consultation with local organisations.

Weymouth councillor David Gray said that while he supported the three-tier approach to parking fees he believed the £15 fee was “a step too far” and well beyond inflation levels. He also questioned how accurate the council data was when, to his knowledge, six Weymouth car parks had machines which were not working last year, making year on year comparison difficult.

Cllr Bryan admitted the data “is not as reliable as I would like,” because of damage to machines, including one which had been cut off and stolen. He said there was also a variance in the figures because of the poor weather in July and August which put people off visiting beaches.

One of the council's scrutiny committees will be looking at the car parking fee setting process in the coming days.

Finance portfolio holder Cllr Gary Suttle said there was no evidence at present to support damage to Weymouth's economy because of the increased car parking fees - but said he would reassure people that the council was prepared to review the impact of the fees and suggest changes, if necessary, if there was evidence to support it.