New data from a council report has revealed the impact of higher parking prices in coastal towns, with 30,000 less cars parking in Whitstable and Herne Bay compared to last year.
Finn Macdiarmid reports.
Finn Macdiarmid reports.
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00:00In April 2024, parking prices went up across Canterbury City Council's coastal district,
00:05with Hearn Bay and Whitstable's car parks hit the hardest.
00:08Free parking was also scrapped in both of the town's car parks,
00:11with specific ones like Goral Tank seeing a rise by £2.10,
00:16while local businesses say it's having a large impact on the health of their high street.
00:20The data revealed from a council report shows that 24,000 less cars parked in Hearn Bay between
00:25April 2024 and January 2025 when compared to the year before,
00:30while there were 6,000 less for the same time frame in Whitstable.
00:33At Goral Tank car park, prices now stand at £3.70 per hour,
00:38with a £2 per overnight hour charge as well.
00:41Now because of this price rise, vendors have been telling me that they worry that less people
00:45coming down for the day means less people coming into the high street and keeping the town's
00:49economy going.
00:50Now back when this was first being discussed in 2023,
00:54local businesses predicted that people would be outpriced,
00:56and trade could be pushed out from the high street.
00:59I caught up with the owner of Whitstable Harbour Gin,
01:01who was particularly worried about potential price rises back in 2023.
01:06Yes, so parking is one of many reasons why I believe footfall to be down in Whitstable.
01:11People have got a lot of other choices, a lot of other options of where to go and where they can
01:15shop. So we've been here in the South Quay Shed, which is a council-run building, we've been here
01:20for three years, and we've noticed the decline in footfall. There's a lot of reasons behind that,
01:26but I do believe that parking is one of them.
01:29And yes, as mentioned, our intention isn't to renew our lease here, which is a shame.
01:35While local businesses are feeling the impact of the quieter car parks,
01:38Canterbury City Council were predicted to make an extra £268,000 on parking this financial year,
01:45making an £11 million prediction.
01:47Instead, they've already made an extra £2.1 million,
01:51and look set to go beyond even their own prediction after the price rise.
01:54Near the start of this year, there was also a plan to make premium car parks more expensive
01:59to £3.80 an hour, but they were scrapped following a public backlash.
02:03The parking team, the transportation team are looking at these figures on a daily basis,
02:07of course they will, and they'll look at the usage.
02:09And we're there to sound the alarm if we notice that these things are continuing.
02:15I think that we're starting, hopefully, to get out of the winter now and starting
02:19to see weather improve. I think we had a lovely weekend this weekend,
02:22and it'll be interesting to see what effect that had.
02:24But the overall goal beyond parking is obviously to encourage more people to
02:28come to Whitspill and Herne Bay, and there are more factors than just parking prices in that.
02:33Canterbury City Council released a statement saying,
02:35we monitor parking activity across the district very closely to see what's working well
02:39and where we can tweak things. And every year we put forward proposals
02:42as part of the budget process that we consult the public on.
02:45This process often results in changes where we have listened and adapted our plans,
02:49such as with the recent decisions on School Lane in Herne,
02:51and charges at top-tier car parks in Canterbury.
02:54The council say they are aware of the issue with less parking acts in the coastal towns
02:58and are monitoring it themselves, and they say they want to create more ways to encourage tourism,
03:02but for businesses like Whitstable Harbour Gin, it could be too little, too late.
03:07Finn McDermid for KMTV in Whitstable and Herne Bay.