Before I start, let me say that this is a personal hatred of mine and I'm not alone because where I live, the local council sees car parking as a major way to make money.
A few years ago, parking meters were introduced on the main parking streets in the town charging at 40 pence per half hour and the traffic wardens set about fining anyone who was just a minute late. This caused major complaints because one of the areas people parked was round the Town Hall which happens to be a pretty major landmark because of its clocktower and it was often pointed out to the council that people had been using the clocktower as a guide for when they were due back to their cars and then discovered that the meters were a few minutes ahead of the time given on the clocktower.
The next step in the car parking money making machine came when the parking meters on the car parks were changed to ones where you had to imput your car registration. The council's reasoning for this was that they were losing too much revenue from people passing tickets with time left on them onto people entering the car park as they left.
Last month, the last section of road I knew of in the town centre where you could park for free was painted with double yellow lines.
People are majorly unhappy, the shopkeepers complain of people staying away and even the traffic wardens say that the parking policy of the council has gone mad.
On principle I refuse to park in my hometown because the costs are just so ridiculous, they even charge for Sunday parking!!! I used to live in a cathedral city which is a big tourist magnet, they could make a fortune if they chose to charge parking on Sunday, but they don't. As for my hometown, well, why should I go there anymore, I've got the Trafford Centre on my doorstep, or even if I go into Manchester, the parking is free on a Saturday and Sunday!!!!
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