Shoppers on the Bexhill Road in West St Leonards are feeling victimised by overzealous parking attendants in the car parks outside Bensons for Beds and the overflow car park opposite on West Hill Road.
A big sign adorns the front of Bensons for Beds which says “Welcome”. However, you are not very welcome if, on your trip to buy a new bed, you just nip across the road for a pint of milk or pick a prescription from the chemist opposite. Because as soon as you walk off the car park site in the wrong direction you are liable to be given a £100 fine. Many shoppers have found themselves in this unfortunate position.
I spoke to the owner of West St Leonards Pharmacy who said, “customers feel like they are being persecuted”.
A resident who had stopped for four minutes in the empty overflow car park and spent £8 in Marina Park Stores was fined £100 for walking in the wrong direction. Appleyard Butchers has also seen a drop in custom, “as once customers get the parking fine”, the owner told me, “they are reluctant to return and use the shop again”.
The ticketing process itself seems ad hoc at best. It is administered by a company called One Parking Solution who have now put signs up all over the car parks. The parking policy seems confusing, with signs saying, “The driver must remain on the property whilst the vehicle is in situ for parking to be authorised”. This is being administered in such an overenthusiastic way that even crossing the road to post a letter before you shop in the retail park has resulted in a parking fine.
Ridiculously though, you could be liable for the fine even if you park in the front car park and walk on the public pavement around to Poundstrecther, as technically you would be leaving the property. It makes no sense at all and needs to be challenged.
The car park next to Bensons for Beds and the overflow were never monitored in this way before Hastings Borough Council bought the entire retail site a few years ago. Now the managers of the site are applying ambiguous parking rules which are having a very negative impact on businesses along this part of Bexhill Road.
As the council ultimately owns the freehold of the retail site, I have asked them if they could speak to the management and come to some sort of sensible arrangement. It is my fear that all the shops in the area will be negatively impacted. Overall footfall is bound to reduce, and even the big retailers, who these rules are supposed to “protect”, will lose trade.
