Over eight hundred people have signed the petition calling on the landowner of the car park behind the shops on Moorcroft Road in York to stop the fines and re-think their approach.
Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Lib Dem councillor, Stephen Fenton, says he has received an e-mail from the landowner.
This includes an important change in that if you go to the shops and then over to the GP surgery, for example, you should NOT be fined or have to pay to park, provided you park for no more than one hour.
The e-mail from the landowner, Rajiv Sachdev of Futurewise Investments Ltd, based in Coventry, said: “Customers of the shops can park for one hour free of charge even if they are going elsewhere. This will cover the position where someone goes into Morrisons to pick something up or into the café and then goes elsewhere. But this is free for one hour only.
“The car park is a private car park for the benefit of the shopkeepers. It is not a general car park for the public/residents. What they cannot do is park in our car park and just go somewhere else e.g. to the dentist or the garage next door. If they are doing this then there is a nominal charge. We are not looking to make a profit. For 2 hours parking it is only £2.00.
“Parking on double yellow lines is prohibited. We cannot have a situation where, as has happened, with someone leaving a car parked on double yellow lines for over 7 hours. If there is a fire or other emergency, large vehicles would not have been able to get through. But to drop off any disabled passenger is allowed.”
Cllr Fenton also raised the case of a man who parked up and his wife went to the shops whilst he stayed in the car. They stayed for less than an hour but got a fine.
The landowner said: “They should not have received the ticket. The driver does not need to physically get out. Even if the passenger has gone into the shops that is the purpose for parking. If they appeal on that basis they should be ok but in the meantime if you let me have a photo of their ticket I am happy to take this up with the parking company.”
So if this has happened to you, send a photo of your letter to [email protected] and he will ask the landowner to cancel it.
