The Chamber of Commerce has supported the need for enforcement of parking restrictions, the current issues have arisen because of police refusal to enforce them.
Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) appears to be the only solution but it is not to the credit of our elected District and County Councillors that the scheme proposed could damage the viability of the town centre by removing the policed "one hour free" that exists in the current restrictions. Removal of the "one hour free" hands a competitive advantage to Tenterden, and will have an impact on residents, visitors and businesses that wish to park legally.
There has been a lot of misinformation and excuses surrounding CPE for Rye, amongst them that parking machines are not technically able to issue a one hour free ticket. I can confirm they are, and are able to do any combination of parking restriction with the current software they have.
CPE is not being applied on the current restrictions with the removal of the "one hour free" and change of timings proposed. All High Streets are suffering across the country and a majority of Local Authorities are offering an element of "free parking" to encourage footfall but it appears not East Sussex County Council, with our elected County and District Councillors showing little support for the concerns raised by Rye Town Council, the Conservation Society, residents and residents associations to the implications of CPE as proposed.
