Rasen's Pay and Display is on its way

West Lindsey District Council says parking charges in Market Rasen will be implemented in October - despite residents' hopes the scheme could still be overturned.
Market RasenMarket Rasen
Market Rasen

The council says the deadline has now passed for councillors who do not agree with charges to challenge the decision, and that pay and display will come in as proposed.

As reported in the Rasen Mail, former town councillor Guy Grainger had said there could be a case for the decision to be examined by WLDC’s scrutiny committee .

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And Market Rasen businessman Adrian Campbell had been hoping to set up a group to challenge the controversial decision.

Market RasenMarket Rasen
Market Rasen

But West Lindsey District Council prosperous communities committee chairman Coun Sheila Bibb said: “The issue has been carefully considered by several committees and meetings, council workshops, and many ideas, opinions and feedback.

“The council has decided to implement the current charging proposals in Market Rasen.

“The estimated date for implementation is October.

“Many council’s nationally are faced with making tough decisions to cut services or start charging for them due to the reductions in Government grants.

Market RasenMarket Rasen
Market Rasen
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“Our policy at West Lindsey is to make non statutory services nil cost - this helps us to be able to maintain our high level of services across the district.”

Residents’ only hope now is that the district council will decide to scrap pay and display when a review takes place six months after it comes into force.

Coun Bibb said: “The prosperous communities committee has requested a further report, six months after implementation to review the impact.”

Mr Campbell was one of the leading figures in the campaign against the pay and display charges.

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He set up a petition which attracted more than 2,600 signatures - but West Lindsey District Council still went ahead with its plan.

Mr Campbell says businesses in neighbouring East Lindsey reported parking charges badly affected them three months after they were introduced - and it took three years to get the measures reversed.

West Lindsey District Council’s comments come as East Lindsey District Council announces even more measures to scrap and slash parking charges around the area.

The authority has launched a major review of car park operations across the district and is set to scrap the current ‘one size fits all’ policy.

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That means inland market towns like Horncastle and Louth could have different regulations and charges to coastal resorts like Skegness and Mablethorpe.

One of the leading figures involved in the ELDC parking charges review, portfolio holder for market towns and the rural economy, Coun Adam Grist, has said he wants to see a parking policing that will help to ‘revitalise’ inland towns like Horncastle.

Market Rasen mayor John Matthews has said WLDC’s decision to introduce parking charges would ‘severely damage’ the prosperity of the town.

He also branded the move as an ‘atrocity’ and said prosperous communities committee members had made a ‘grave error of judgement’.

Coun Matthews said West Lindsey District Council had ignored the feelings of the town’s residents after thousands of people had signed a petition against the parking charges.