'Give us a break' plea as council's changes to car parks leave dozens with surprise fines

CornwallLive readers have joined in with disgruntled locals and tourists in Cornwall's capital who have been left frustrated after a significant alteration to car parking rules caught them off-guard. Garras Wharf, Moorfield and New Bridge Street car parks in the heart of Truro were previously pay on exit facilities with barriers controlling vehicle movement.

However, last week (November 11), the barriers were taken down and new signs suddenly sprouted up across all three car parks, alerting drivers to the switch to pay and display. The council didn't appear to make any attempt to publicise the change but allowed a few days for people to become aware of the changes, but most either didn't notice or assumed the barriers were being fixed due to their notorious glitching.

Yet, on Saturday (November 16), enforcement of the new pay and display system began, leaving numerous motorists shocked to find a yellow penalty charge notice slapped on their windscreen. Cornwall Council defended the recent decision, citing several reasons for the change.

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A spokeswoman explained: "We have removed the barrier controlled pay on exit system from the car parks in Truro where this system was in place - Garras Wharf, Moorfield and New Bridge Street. This decision was for several reasons. There have been many instances of tailgating, where drivers seeking to avoid paying for their parking drove close to other vehicles as they exited the car park, often resulting in collisions. The barriers were frequently susceptible to technical and hardware failure, as well as vandalism.

Large signs were displayed at the entrance to the car parks (where barriers had previously been in place) and additional signs were installed at the pay machines and within the car parks. During that week we did not carry out any enforcement action for cars parked without the correct ticket – enforcement began again on Saturday."

Commenter RichardM is frustrated: “For heaven's sake - this is going backwards! Rarely do I know exactly how long I am going to be in Truro - I don't want to be pressured to leave before the ticket expires, and I don't want to have to dash back to extend it. A system that charges you for how long you have been there is perfect. It works in the M&S car park and works at Treliske so what is the problem? The cynic in me says the council makes more money out of unused parking credit? Parking charges are awful enough in Truro now so give us a break!”

4Seasons disagrees: “It's much better going back to this method. The charges ARE steep, but if one just buys the relevant approximate time for the stay on the App, one gets a reminder for the expiry time and option to extend the parking duration. Better than the queues at the exit barrier when people haven't paid at the ticket machine or thought about a payment method!”

Skelts says: “I wouldn't ever pay to park in Truro as I PAY MY COUNCIL TAX and don't think you should have to pay for parking. I always park in the supermarket carpark and if I need more time, I move to another one.”

Gully agrees: “Parking should be free, there are very few pips left to squeeze out of motorists and it’s the town centres that ultimately suffer!”

Baggyboatee adds: “Well! That’s not going to encourage the Christmas shoppers in Truro! I will continue to park at M&S as I don't have to rush back with the ‘payment as you leave’ system.”

Loladog adds: “With the loss of the Pydar street car park and the reduction of spaces at Moorfield it seems the council have absolutely no interest in running a worthwhile system. No wonder footfall is down in Truro and the council have only themselves to blame.”

DoWhatis unhappy at the change: “There will be 4 impacts from this. It means the council gets to cut costs. Secondly it means people will stay in Truro for less time and spend less money. Thirdly, more people will get fined, thus increasing the council's revenue. And fourthly, other people will pay for parking they don’t need in order to avoid fines, therefore further increasing council revenue. So it’s bad for traders, bad for residents, good for council costs and revenue generation.”

Jimbob77 replies: “Cornwall council is broke and needs funds to stay afloat like most councils in the country, gotta pay for stuff somehow.”

Bicentricdeer retorts: “How much has the tax payer had to pay to replace the system at a time where the council is supposed to be saving money? They are talking about putting council tax up AGAIN yet they are just pouring cash away on car park systems to replace a system that works just fine.”

KentuckyRain adds: “Maybe they would have more money if it wasn't wasted on land speculation, stadiums, bike tracks to nowhere, bike lanes that are dangerous, spaceports, redevelopment of car parks into car parks, red bus lanes and sports centres.”

Davidtreth points out: “I'm fairly sure people complained when they originally introduced the barriers and pay-on-exit.”

How do you feel about the new parking charge system? Will it save time at the exit or is it just another way to raise more funds? Have your say in our comments section.

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