Parking has always been a “hot potato” locally and a subject covered many times by Rye News over our ten year history. First there was years of debate about the introduction of parking meters in Rye, then when they arrived there was much discussion about how they had changed the dynamics of the town.
New initiatives including the £30 daily charge at Camber, imposed by Rother District Council to try and alleviate traffic congestion has been and gone and drivers using car parks run by Rother District Council can now use cash or card to pay for their tickets. But there are still major concerns about some parking charges in Rye, particularly at the Wish Street car park where lack of explanatory signage is still a problem and motorists continue to feel they are being unfairly ripped off.
But today, Thursday 2 October, new parking rules unveiled by the BPA (British Parking Association) and the IPC (International Parking Community) are introduced which promise to raise standards and improve transparency for all motorists across the UK with a new single code of practice. The code is aimed at motorists in the private sector to create consistency and to put an end to drivers being unfairly fined, music to the ears of motorists locally and existing parking sites are expected to update their signage by late 2026 before becoming completely compliant with the new rules.
The code applies to all parking operators who are members of the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community.
Included are a mandatory 10-minute grace period for motorists, standardised signage requirements, as well as a unified set of rules for all parking operators on private land and a new Appeals Charter has also been established, providing further guidelines for motorists to challenge parking charges. The code introduces a cap on the parking charge for late return of £100, which can be reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days and allows for harsher punishments to drivers abusing Blue Badge bays.
Parking is big business and it’s interesting to hear that Ringo, one of the UK’s largest parking apps, has brought in a staggering £30 million from fees over the last year despite drivers complaining about the rising cost of motoring.
Change is coming, hang in there!
Image Credits: Nick Forman .