CONFUSION over new parking rules has led to Tameside Council cancelling fines for drivers caught out by changes brought in.
The council re-introduced two hours of free parking in its car parks from June 9. However, there were complaints from people who did not realise they still needed to display a ‘free parking’ ticket on their windscreens to qualify.
Longdendale councillor Allan Hopwood told how one of his constituents had fallen foul of the rule because of miscommunication with a traffic warden.
He said: “[She] tells me that the enforcement officer on site informed her that she had two hours free parking but neglected to tell her that she was still required to collect a ticket from the machine.
“The enforcement officer subsequently issued a FPN [fixed penalty notice] five minutes later.
“In my opinion not a very community minded action by the enforcement officer whose identification number is included on the FPN.”
That fine, along with nine others issued during the first week of parking price changes, has been rescinded as part of an unofficial ‘grace period.’
Tameside Council’s transport lead, Cllr Stephen Homer, said: “The two hours free parking offer has been widely welcomed and is already proving to be a success – over 11,000 motorists took advantage of the free offer in its first week and we saw almost 6,000 new users in our car parks in comparison to the previous week.
“We issued just 10 fixed penalty notices during the first week where tickets were not displayed, however these were cancelled – and any appeals responded to – to provide a grace period to allow users to get used to the new changes.
“We have widely promoted the changes, including the message that you still need to display a ticket.
“Additionally, we produced a video, which has already had over 80,000 views, showing people how to get their free ticket from the machine.
“Obtaining your free parking ticket from the ticket machine is easy – all you have to do is key in your car registration number, press the green button then display the ticket in your car.
“It is a driver’s responsibility to check they are parking according to the terms of a car park, which are clearly stated in the signage, and we would advise that if they want to take advantage of this free parking they should make sure they have a valid ticket on display in their car so they can prove that they remain within the free two hour free window.”
“I’m really pleased so many people are taking advantage of the offer and want to say thank you to everyone for supporting our town centres and local businesses.”
The new pricing structure is similar to the one replaced in September 2023, when charges went up from £1 to £3.50 for the first three hours in most of the council’s car parks.
Writing in a social media post in January, Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds said parking should be used to encourage people into town centres, instead of being short-term cash cow:
He said: “My view is that town centre parking must be seen as a driver of footfall rather than a source of income and that with the right, evidence driven approach, parking policy can be a way to promote town centre regeneration.”