Council enforces short-term car parking to benefit businesses

Lack of short-term parking in Monmouthshire’s towns is regularly raised as an issue by residents so enforcement at the county’s short stay car parks has been improved to strictly offer a maximum stay of four hours, followed by a period of two hours before drivers can purchase another ticket for the same vehicle.

New car parking machines have now been introduced that feature dedicated software to prevent drivers from feeding a meter immediately after their first ticket has elapsed. This gives more people the opportunity to pop into the county’s towns and shop locally as well as support Monmouthshire’s businesses.

The council’s designated short-term car parks are at Abergavenny’s Brewery Yard, Tiverton Place and Trinity Terrace, Glendower Street in Monmouth and Nelson Street in Chepstow.

The council widely consulted the public over 28 days and advertised its intention to create new parking measures - including the short-term two hour restriction - in all its car parks, online on the council’s website and through extensive adverts in the Abergavenny Chronicle, Monmouthshire Beacon and South Wales Argus.

Councillor Bryan Jones, Monmouthshire’s cabinet member with responsibility for the county’s car parks said: “The council provides a considerable amount of long-term car parking in Abergavenny, Chepstow and Monmouth for those people intending to spend more than four hours - the maximum term in our short-term car parks – in our towns.  Vehicles which previously unlawfully occupied spaces in our short-term car parks potentially deprived a considerable number of visitors who wished to stay for perhaps half an hour or less.  This is not good for business and caused inconvenience for those wishing to make a brief call in our towns to purchase goods, deliver or collect items or attend an appointment. We encourage everyone to support their local shops and businesses, and better access to short term parking will help.”

For more information on Monmouthshire’s car parking policies visit: www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/car-parks