Hampshire County Council say Lymington shoppers are “making good use” of High Street’s parking meters

Lymington shoppers are making ‘good use’ of the High Street’s parking meters, the county council has claimed, after angry traders said spaces were half empty.

As reported in the A&T, more than 1,000 have signed a petition to bring back an hour’s free parking, which was scrapped when the meters were installed last August. Many have complained the new free limit of 30 minutes is not enough to go shopping.

But a spokesperson for HCC said: “The new parking arrangements in Lymington High Street are enabling more people to park for free to run quick errands, with some making good use of the additional flexibility of being able to pay to increase their stay for up to two hours.

“The new arrangements appear to be working well, but are subject to continual monitoring, and we plan to repeat the original parking usage survey in the near future to provide further feedback on the scheme.”

The new parking arrangements mean people get 10 minutes’ free grace and another 20 minutes without paying as long as they enter their car’s registration number at a meter and obtain a ticket. After that, they have to pay £1 an hour.

David McConachie, who co-owns of Perfumery & Co with partner Anthony Harwood, said he did not believe the council knew the extent of how much the new parking arrangements were affecting trade in the town.

He said: “I don’t see how they can monitor them continuously. What they are saying certainly does not tally with what we are finding.

“We have people constantly coming in complaining about the meters and saying it is putting them off coming to the High Street.

“The other day we had an elderly couple who asked for our help because they could not work out how to enter their registration number into the meter. We have this all the time.”

David said he was “glad” there was going to be a review of the meters a year after they were put in last August but added: “I hope that the council is going to engage with the public and businesses in the town to gain our views and experiences of it.

“Since the story appeared in the A&T about Anthony launching a petition calling for the free hour to be brought back, we have lots of people coming into our Lymington shop asking if they can sign it.

“If this new arrangement stays, I can’t see the High Street doing very well at all, which is very sad.”

To sign the petition, visit: www.change.org/p/bring-back-1-hour-free-parking-on-lymington-high-street