The Isle of Wight Council is asking for your views about parking. A draft Parking Strategy has been produced, which looks at all aspects of parking across the Island and makes a series of proposals for how to best and better manage parking Island-wide in the future.
The draft strategy looks at all aspects of parking, from charges in car parks and electronic capacity signage, to on-street resident parking zones, private car parks and management of short-stay on-street parking, which supports our local businesses and economy.
The survey enables respondents to answer only the questions that interest them. It details the specific recommendations being considered for each parking issue.
The survey is asking for views on:
- Off-Street Car Park Payment Methods
- Off-Street Parking Permits
- On-Street Parking Permits
- Parking Charges
- Parking Enforcement
- Council Off-Street Parking Stock Management
- Council On-Street Parking Stock Management
- Private Parking Management
- Council Parking Stock Management
- Variable Message Signage Strategy
- Island-wide Parking Guidelines
- Additional Parking Provision
- Overall Parking Management.
Councillor Phil Jordan, Executive Member for parking, said: “In the past, the council has not had a formal Island-wide parking strategy. This has caused innumerate issues, many in hyper-local areas, which now needs to be unpicked to ensure that how we approach parking policy in the future is effective, and supports our local economy.
“We know that people are passionate about parking issues in their local area. I know that most people would probably suggest that we make all parking free across the Island, but actually, such an approach is not supportive of our local economy or residential areas. If all parking was free of charge, then you would find that towns and local commercial centres would fill up early in the morning with workers vehicles, which would often remain there all day. That doesn’t enable shoppers to best access shops and for our local businesses to thrive.
“Parking is a key revenue stream for the Isle of Wight Council, as it is for all local authorities. However, it’s not a license to print money, as some people think. There’s an art to balancing parking charges and managing supply and demand, as there is for any business. It’s also essential that we aim to manage stresses that exist within certain areas of the Island, for example, around the ferry ports where often commuters park in residential areas, to the detriment of those living close by.
“The new parking strategy will give us the opportunity and method to properly manage every aspect of parking on the Island fairly, which has not been the approach in the past. I would ask that people feedback their thoughts on the proposals that affect them using the online survey.”
The parking strategy consultation closes on 5 July and can be accessed online at: https://www.iwight.com/Residents/Transport-Parking-and-Streets/Parking-Services/Parking-Services1/Parking-Strategy-2016-to-2021
