Parking put me off Salisbury

7:00am Thursday 24th January 2013 in Postbag

I currently live in Kent and have been offered a job in the Salisbury area. I was there today and with some spare time called into the city centre with the intention of getting lunch and having a quick look round as I don't know the area.

Firstly I was surprised how easy it was to park: so many empty places - great. However, I soon saw why at £5.50 for two hours.

At that price I had insufficient change. I jumped back in the car and went to Waitrose, which was packed.

Maybe I just picked a particularly expensive car park. However, another city centre customer was lost, and possibly a future resident.

JOHN CHAPLIN, Sevenoaks

Comments(20)

Lady Tinky Winky says...
4:52pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Please don't be put off by the parking charges.
Salisbury is a great city, small enough to have a friendly feel to it. Never too crowded, well not unless the Queen pops in.
Near to so many lovely places, New Forest for one.
Unfortunately the one draw back here is the parking charges. They are without a doubt the dearest in Wiltshire! I know I have travelled to most of the big towns. The market square one we have never used. We gasp everytime we seem someone park there as we know how expensive it is.
We look to see if it is a Daimler or Rolls Royce!
Also there are a lot of parking wardens, they start at 8 to catch people out and they even work on a Sundays.
But that aside if you currently live in the part of Kent near to London, you will find it is a totally different way of life here.

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Kev627 says...
9:01pm Fri 25 Jan 13

I do believe the reason parking charges in Salisbury are expensive is to encourage people to use the park and ride sites around the city.

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karlmarx says...
5:02am Sat 26 Jan 13

Kev627 wrote:
I do believe the reason parking charges in Salisbury are expensive is to encourage people to use the park and ride sites around the city.
And to claw back some of the millions wasted on the park and ride.

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SaveTheCarParks says...
9:33am Sat 26 Jan 13

Salisbury Vision (sic) & the council are hiking parking charges AND selling off central car parks in an effort to force people to use the detested park and ride scheme.

The effect of course, is to drive shoppers to every town and city apart from salisbury.

The numpties in charge are killing this city!


"Owner of 'Nursery Rhymes', Helen Stretch told Spire FM News, she kept going as long as she could, but says Wiltshire Council's ridiculous parking charges are killing local businesses:

"We just aren't seeing the amount of people coming into town. You can walk through the car parks any time of the day, or any day of the week, and they're empty. So people are just not coming to Salisbury to shop."

She added her concerns about the future for other shops too:

"I'm scared to be honest. I think it's a real worry for people that are left in town. I don't know where it's going to finish. I can't see it turning round unless they do something drastic to encourage people back here.""

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UKD003 says...
1:43pm Sat 26 Jan 13

Salisbury is a city full of people with plenty disposible income, so the nominal parking charges don't really matter to all these wealthy here. If we ever go into a recession and shoppes start closing up around the city, it surely wasn't because of the parking charges.

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kjpayne says...
1:48pm Sat 26 Jan 13

UKD003; i'm pretty sure people with 'disposable income' detest these charges too!

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nesspah says...
3:20pm Sat 26 Jan 13

I used to go into Salisbury at least once a fortnight. The un-commercial hike in parking charges by the Trowbridge council made me think twice. I started shopping elsewhere without having to pay for parking. And I changed to a haircut out-of-town & a non-Salisbury dentist & doctor so I only went to Salisbury 3 times in 2012.
Seems strange that the local politicians and shakers don't appear bothered that they drive us villagers away.

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gotanybiscuits? says...
7:46pm Sat 26 Jan 13

UKD003 wrote:
Salisbury is a city full of people with plenty disposible income, so the nominal parking charges don't really matter to all these wealthy here. If we ever go into a recession and shoppes start closing up around the city, it surely wasn't because of the parking charges.
What a thoroughly ludicrous remark!
The charges are not 'nominal', they are amongst the highest I've seen.
People living in the city may have the options of walking, or using buses.
The rest of us do not.
For your information, we are already taking our business elsewhere.

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karlmarx says...
9:33pm Sat 26 Jan 13

UKD003 wrote:
Salisbury is a city full of people with plenty disposible income, so the nominal parking charges don't really matter to all these wealthy here. If we ever go into a recession and shoppes start closing up around the city, it surely wasn't because of the parking charges.
"if we ever go into recession"?
where have you been the last three years?

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Helen Farmer says...
1:11am Sun 27 Jan 13

Lady tinky winky says :"The market square one we have never used. We gasp everytime we seem someone park there as we know how expensive it is." The vast majority who park there are unable to walk from other car parks into town. Many are non paying Blue Badge holders, unable to secure one of the City's Blue Badge bays; there are a few tourists who don't realise that other car parks are less expensive, but most are older people - not so disabled as to be entitled to a Blue Badge, but less mobile than they used to be and unable to walk from other car parks. Other users are people with temporary incapacity, heavily pregnant ladies and a few people who are just plain too busy to park further out and walk.

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karlmarx says...
6:34am Sun 27 Jan 13

Well, we have had comments from all parts of the spectrum, visitors, business owners, shoppers.
The consensus?
You don't need me to tell you do you.
It's hard enough trying to compete with internet shopping and other cities/towns shops without the added burden of being the most expensive to visit and, the least welcoming.

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Neph says...
4:36pm Sun 27 Jan 13

I'm originally from Salisbury and come back to visit family. I'm shocked at the parking charges and I live in London. My local car parks charge about half the amount that I pay when visiting my family. The other problem is resident's parking. I end up dragging my cases about half a mile, as I'm unable to park anywhere close to the place that I'm staying. Much as I love Salisbury, my visits have decreased significantly over the years.

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rantone says...
5:39pm Sun 27 Jan 13

This Sunday at 3pm the Market Square looked full with 'customers' still at the machines seeking to pay to park in our city. However, I did notice the parking ambassador checking for tickets. All good people here to shop etc. Soon this car park will not be available and then all will seek elsewhere. I hope the directions will be clear for the route to other places.Perhaps Park & Ride being available on a Sunday could help for part of the day. Also income from the car parks in Salisbury although high in relation to other towns in Wiltshire will bring in less £, and this will again reduce when the Central /Maltings parking is taken for new shops etc. To correct this the Trowbridge council may have to increase charges as less spaces = less income! Help is required in sending the message to the elected councillors, and this in part will be possible on Tuesday 5th February at the WC roadshow being held in the Market Square. Do go along and state that the city requires a fair policy on charges and this must relate to all of Wiltshire. The cashcow that Trowbridge believes that those Salisbury residents and visitors are is now over. Numbers will drop even further if action is not taken.

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J Kraft says...
6:22pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Lady Tinkywinky says:

"The market square one we have never used. We gasp everytime we seem someone park there as we know how expensive it is."

Don't worry, most of those people are Blue Badge holders, as there are not enough Blue Badge bays in the City Centre, so they are not paying. I wonder where they will all go when the Market and Guildhall car parks are closed? And I wonder how the Council can justify claiming that the carpark is underused by counting the number of tickets sold? Are Blue Badge Holders that invisible?

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Lady Tinky Winky says...
6:44pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Everyone seems to have gone off on a tangent.I thought this thread was about a man wanting to come to live and work in Salisbury.
We all know the parking is dear, but can't some of you and least say what a great place this is to live in.

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karlmarx says...
8:04pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Lady Tinky Winky wrote:
Everyone seems to have gone off on a tangent.I thought this thread was about a man wanting to come to live and work in Salisbury. We all know the parking is dear, but can't some of you and least say what a great place this is to live in.
That's right LTT. He was put off coming to live and work here and, not by us I hasten to add. Otherwise the headline would read 'man put off coming to live and work in Salisbury by the comment section of local newspaper'

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SaveTheCarParks says...
8:51pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Unfortunately, the laughably named 'Salisbury vision' seems hell bent on ridding Salisbury of all private cars.

Their irrational hatred of motorists will see Salisbury wither on the vine.

From their website...

"Furthermore, the city’s transport infrastructure will be overhauled putting the focus on the pedestrian and on public transport."

Salt Lane car park - to be sold off for housing

Brown street car park - to be sold off for housing.

Market Square - All parking to be banned.

Central car park - reduced number of parking spaces to build more empty shops!

etc, etc

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aunty mary says...
9:33pm Sun 27 Jan 13

Used to come to Salisbury weekly to shop, knew where there was 2hr free parking, used that and on occasions used the park and ride if I needed longer. I havent shopped in Salisbury for at least a year due to lack of free parking or indeed reasonably priced parking; oh and park and ride? waste of time and money now.................
.....did all my Christmas shopping in Bournemouth and out of town centres, sorry Salisbury shopkeepers, you may have lovely little individual shops but people cant afford the parking to browse them.

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nesspah says...
10:07pm Sun 27 Jan 13

There's no question m'lady but that Salisbury is a wonderful place which is probably why it grieves so many of us to see those incompetents in some faraway place called Trowbridge (that many south wilts residents have never even visited) set upon ruining our beautiful cathedral city because they don't understand how to manage an international tourist centre.

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Capricorn 1 says...
7:29pm Mon 28 Jan 13

I don't know where you were looking to park where it would have cost £5.50 for two hours, but it's £2.50 for two hours in the car parks I use.

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