Over 70% of poll voters oppose return of ELDC car parking charges next month

The poll, which was launched on Wednesday morning, has received 173 votes so far - with 127 of those (73%) voting against the proposals.

A further 41 people (24%) voted to support the reintroduction of the parking charges, while five people (3%) said they were not sure.

As reported previously, East Lindsey District Council have stood by their decision to bring back charges at their car parks - adding that they are among the lowest parking charges in the region - despite concerns that the charges might deter shoppers as businesses begin to reopen their doors.

Louth Independent Traders chairman Gary Denniss agreed that 'returning to a sense of normality' would be important in the weeks and months ahead, adding that he did not think it would be 'too detrimental' to reintroduce the parking charges in three weeks' time.

There has been a mixed reaction from our readers since the announcement was made earlier this week:

Ann Norman: "Let the shops get back on their feet first for a couple of months."

Alan Tapster: "No let the shops get the business that they have missed, make it easy for people to park for free so they can shop in Louth and not go else where. I would say reintroduce parking charges at the beginning of September."

Paul Hogg: "If they want to get [Skegness] moving again and people spending money in the shops and so on they should keep it free till August to help everyone."

Jackie Ward: "Why does everyone think everything should be free now? How on earth can the economy be expected to recover if no one wants to pay for anything?"

Pauline Mack:"Let shops and businesses get back on their feet then gradually bring in charges when more people are working and kids back at school?"

June Seymour: "Strikes me if they want to get Louth moving back to some sort of normality the car parks should stay free for a lot longer yet, to encourage people back to our shops!"

Sam Sessions: "All out of town shopping complexes are free for parking. You need any advantages you can to help draw people back to towns and High Streets."

Jon Shaw: "I'd prefer to see the traffic wardens back to ensure that nobody parks on yellow lines as they are currently doing..."

Chris Hughes: "People will just go back to parking on the street. Reintroducing car parking charges will actually be detrimental to the economy rather than helpful!"

John Lusby: “How to kill the high street in one easy step. Amazon doesn’t charge you for car parking.”

Dominic Hinkins: "Far too early to reintroduce charges. Saving ELDC's finances at the expense of the small businesses who are going to be struggling for some time yet. If charges have to come back at all, they should be very different - pay on exit or at least two hours free parking."

Cathy Dorrington: "Shopping also takes longer now with queuing and social distancing, so paying to park will be more expensive."

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