The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
You will soon have to pay for parking by card or a phone app in the majority of car parks in Spalding.
Notices placed by South Holland District Council at its car parks said that from Monday, June 11, all car parks except the ones at Herring Lane and Victoria Street would only take card payments.
The council says new machines are being installed throughout this week and will become operational on Monday, June 18.
Parking rates are not rising, though anyone buying a ticket through a new phone app that is launching will be charged an additional 20p which the council says is to cover the cost of issuing a reminder text 15 minutes before the ticket is due to expire.
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, the authority’s portfolio holder for place, said the new machines: “will be cashless and instead allow payment to be made from both card and via a phone app.
“The option to use coin payment alongside these new machines at two of our most popular car parks, Herring Lane and Victoria Street, will continue going forward.
“In studies carried out elsewhere in the UK, 78 per cent of people said they wanted to pay for parking using credit or debit cards and 45 per cent showed an interest in paying with a phone. Taking this into account we want to introduce a service that gives as many people as possible a choice of quick and easy payment options.
“Another major reason for this approach is due to the most recent theft of a cash payment machine in Spalding and those we have suffered in the past. There will also be savings in revenue and time expended by staff having to collect, bank and process money from cash machines.
“We believe that all car park users will benefit from having the choice and convenience of different payment options.”
Rodney Marks contacted The Voice with regards the Castle Sports Complex car park going card-only where there’s a 20p charge for an hour.
“The lunatics have taken over the asylum. 20p on a card. It’s free if you park on the gym side.”
