Traders fear future in Sevenoaks after new parking charges see drop in footfall

Traders have expressed their concerns about the introduction of new parking charges on Sundays at almost all car parks and on-street parking across Sevenoaks. The move was approved in October last year and introduced in April in a bid to pay towards the increased cost of providing parking, the council said.

But many business owners and managers fear the new charges will harm trade as they started noticing a decrease in footfall on Sundays. Manager at The Oak pub for nearly seven years, Adrian Redmond said the introduction of parking charges to most car parks and on-street parking is “definitely affecting business”.

“Before, a lot of people came on Sundays; they'd come and nip in, have a wander around the shops and then nip in for a drink, since they have introduced charges in the past few weeks, we’ve definitely seen a decrease. The increase of the charges over the past couple of years have been silly.

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“If someone just wants to park for an hour, just to grab a coffee, you really need to start thinking about it, that is why people are moving away, going to pubs and car parks out of town. So it mostly affects businesses.”

When asked if he thought the new charges would lead to the death of the high street, Adrian said: “Potentially. With the cost of living crisis, if you’ve got to spend two or three pounds extra just to come to town, why would you do that?”

The manager said customers would benefit from at least two hours of free parking on Sundays to encourage more people to come into town. He added: “Even if it's just two-hour parking and then charge them, it would encourage people to come in for a couple of hours, which is what they want to be doing.”

'It was so much busier years ago'

When he first started at The Oak, Adrian said the town was “so much busier” compared to now. “Charges were less. Obviously they’ve introduced a new multi-storey car park, which is good,” he said.

“But I’m worried about the high street. If any business leaves the high street, it does affect us,” he said. “It might not be a direct effect, but you want people out and about.

“Parking charges go up to 8.30pm, I don’t know why that can’t be 6pm. It would make a massive difference in the night-time economy.”

He claims some of his customers were unaware of the new charges, and were given parking tickets. “The first couple of Sundays, a lot of people got tickets,” he said.

Marco Arpino has been trading in the High Street for around 15 years. “I remember a few years ago, there were free car parks on Sunday, people would enjoy them. Monday to Saturday, okay, but why Sunday?,” he said.

“Before, people would park in the square, and leave their car all day long, and I remember at 12pm the car park was already full. Maybe they could leave it free on Sunday, with a maximum of two-hour free parking.

“But after the pandemic everything has changed. It’s all about money. When I first opened here 15 years ago, the car park was less, people would come every morning, car park was cheaper.”

Marco said Sevenoaks was good for businesses years ago. “It’s quite a nice area, crime is low, that’s why we chose Sevenoaks,” he said.

'It was empty for the first time'

Jolita Krusniauskaite, the owner of Eat for Energy, a health shop, said due to parking charges, she believes customers only come into town for “what they need”. “They’re always on a metre, they always check the time,” she said.

“So whether it’s the weekend or weekdays, they only come for the things they know they need. So they don’t browse, they don’t go around.”

She said she noticed a huge decline in customers last Sunday (May 5), with only one person entering her shop. “It was empty for the first time since the business existed,” Jolita said.

“I think people will abandon Sevenoaks,” she said. “People used to come from around the area on Sunday, just to browse and enjoy the town because they liked having a coffee, going on a walk. Now people might think twice before coming.

“If this carries on we won’t have an option to stay here. It is not viable.”

The district council said it had frozen all of its parking charges for another year to support residents and local businesses. Reacting to the concerns, a council spokesperson said: “While Sunday charges previously applied in Blighs and Bradbourne car parks in Sevenoaks, we have extended these charges to most of our car parks and on-street, but free weekend parking is still available in our Gordon Road car park.

“Like most households and businesses, the cost of providing our services has increased significantly in recent years. Income from Sunday charges will help pay towards our additional parking costs, including CCTV coverage in all our car parks, maintenance, business rates, patrols and electricity, with any surplus invested in the local services we provide to all of our residents.

“We understand our charges compare favourably with the two privately run car parks in Sevenoaks town centre and we also know, from very recent research, Sevenoaks District Council generates the second lowest income from parking charges in the whole of Kent.

“Our parking arrangements are kept under regular review and the charges are considered annually by our Councillors.”

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