NEW PARKING PILOT STARTS

A new system of parking charges will be piloted in five high street areas of Thanet later this month (Monday 20 July).

The scheme, known as linear charging, will mean that people would be required to pay a minimum charge of 20p for parking and then 1.5p per minute thereafter up to a two hour maximum. Previously, the minimum charge was 50p and then there was a sliding scale of set charges, depending how long people were parking for.

Linear charging will be piloted for a period of six months in the following high street areas:
- Cavendish Street, Ramsgate
- Northdown Road, Cliftonville
- High Street, Margate
- Marine Drive, Margate
- Belvedere Road, Broadstairs
- High Street, Broadstairs
- Charlotte Street, Broadstairs
- Station Road, Birchington

The linear charging pilot scheme is being trialed after research was carried out by the Broadstairs and St Peter's Chamber of Commerce into a number of different parking schemes used across the UK. After discussion with traders' groups in the five areas, it was agreed to pilot the new scheme.

Thanet District Council will be monitoring how the new parking scheme is received by carrying out a number of user surveys and getting feedback from local traders throughout the pilot. If successful, it could be extended to other parts of Thanet.

Cllr Sandy Ezekiel, Leader of Thanet District Council, said: "I was really pleased when Broadstairs Chamber of Commerce brought this idea to me and I'm delighted that we have been able put their idea into place for a trial six months. Many people think that free parking would be the answer, but we aren't in a position to offer that. I feel that this is the next best thing at this moment in time. A lot of research and hard work has gone into finding out which parking scheme should be used and I welcome feedback from everyone on how this parking option works for them."

Howard Evans, Former Chairman of Broadstairs and St Peter's Chamber of Commerce, said: "It's great to see a project that the Chamber of Commerce were so passionate about, being put into place for the benefit of everyone in Thanet. We did an exceptional amount of work to find out which parking options worked best and we are really pleased to see linear parking come to fruition. We feel that linear parking allows residents and visitors to pay a realistic price for the amount of parking that they need."