Parking fee rise affecting business – café owner

A Kent café owner has said she has noticed a drop in business since new parking charges were introduced.

Medway Council's new parking fees came into force on Wednesday, raising the charge for a two-hour stay from £2.30 to £2.90.

Teresa Gannon, owner of Tick Tocks Cafe in Rainham, said she had seen a dramatic fall in custom since the increases took effect.

The council said it needed the revenue to provide essential services and did not believe it was driving away trade.

Ms Gannon said she had sold just three roast dinners this week, compared to 16 last week.

"We noticed straight away that people had stopped coming in," she told BBC Radio Kent.

She said a previous increase had the same effect on her business.

"We dropped by a third and it went on for a good few weeks until it started to pick up very, very slowly," she added.

"People did start coming back, but as soon as we got on an even keel again, the council went 'we'll have another rise'."

Alex Paterson, Medway Council's portfolio holder for highways, said the authority had to make some hard financial choices.

He said: "Nobody ever asks for higher parking fees, but what they don't do either is they never ask for me for roads to be in poorer condition, less help for children with special educational needs, less help for rough sleepers – for us to wield the axe on adult social care.

"What we've chosen to do is to increase the income that we generate rather than cut those vital services."

He also questioned whether the rise in parking fees affected businesses, after investigating similar claims by a local councillor.

"We ran the numbers and there were more visits to the car park that year than the previous year, after a rise in parking charges," he added.

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