Parking could be cashless in town

Changing its unused and brand new card-only parking ticket machines to take cash could cost South Holland District Council £7,000, according to a report due to go before its cabinet next week.

The authority spent £28,000 on ten new machines last year – eight of which were for card only payments. But only one has been installed.

Card-only machines were the preference because a conventional cash version was stolen from Vine Street car park, Spalding in December 2017 – with the loss of around £700.

It also costs the council around £20,000 a year to have the machines emptied of cash, a figure which would be saved if the district went card-only.

There are currently seven card payment machines in storage, unused.

The council cabinet will be discussing two options; paying £7,000 to get the seven machines converted to take both cash and cards or leave them as they are and put them in anyway.

Whatever the decision, the Car Parking Order would need amending after consultation to allow payment by card, cash or mobile phone.

“As the council cannot make a final decision until after the consultation and assessment it should be clearly noted that although the council has purchased a number of card-only machines, these can be changed to card and cash machines if this becomes necessary,” says the report.

“The addition of cash payment options to all machines would mean that the proposed £20,000 per year saving for the cash collections would be lost,” the report adds.

Members of the cabinet will also be told that the use of dual payment machines could reduce the amount of cash being held in each machine and reduce the potential risk of theft.

“The new machines allow for payment by an app so that people can manage their car parking time better and stay longer, as necessary, without fear of car parking enforcement,” says the report.

If the card-only option is adopted, the machines would be installed in Spalding at the Sheep Market, Victoria Street, Holland Road, Westlode Street, Winfrey Avenue, The Vista and the town swimming pool.

In total, South Holland owns and maintains 13 car parks across Spalding, Long Sutton and Holbeach and there is a combined capacity of 755 spaces and 26 disabled spaces.

Charging varies, with the two in Long Sutton and one in Holbeach free. The costs for the rest range from 20p for two hours in Spalding to £1.50 for all day with evenings and weekends free.

“Comparisons with other local districts in Lincolnshire and Norfolk show South Holland offers car parking at the lowest available price.”