Dennis Baldry, Southend BID Chair, recently met with Councillor James Courtenay, Deputy Leader at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council to discuss our BID businesses key concerns regarding Southend town centre. One of the topics of discussion was the removal of the current minimum two-hour parking stay at most town centre car parks.
Today Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has announced that its 14-space London Road North car park beside the Odeon cinema will be converted into one-hour maximum stay car park with a fixed fare of 20p for half an hour or 50p for an hour. Meanwhile, a further 12 short-stay car parking spaces will be created at the site of the former Pitman toilets with the same charging system operating.
In addition, the one-hour parking band will be reintroduced at Seaway car park during the summer months, bringing more than 600 extra single-hour parking options to the town centre. Currently, single-hour parking is only available at Seaways in the winter months. Single-hour parking here will be priced at £1.60 from April to October and £1.20 from November to March.
The new car-parking changes are all due to come into force from 1 April and will operate on a trial basis for a year.
Payment will be possible at London Road North and Pitmans via cash, phone or the Mobon app.
Cllr James Courtenay, cabinet member for growth said: “While we want residents and visitors to stay longer in our town, I acknowledge that sometimes people just need to nip into town to grab a coffee or collect an order.
“Indeed, Click & Collect shopping is an increasingly important market for some of our high street retailers and these new short-stay parking options should cater perfectly for that market. This is something that local businesses told us was important to them as we consulted over the 2019-2020 budget.
“Over the next year, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the take up of these new car parks and speaking to town centre businesses to see what impact they have on high street trade.
“We will also be doing more to promote use of the more than 2,000 single-hour parking spaces the town already has, both in council and private ownership.”
One-hour parking in Southend town centre
Tylers Avenue and York Road Car Parks – 340 spaces priced at £1.10 for an hour
Short Street Car Park – 101 spaces priced at £1.10 for an hour
Seaway Car Park – 630 spaces priced at £1.20 for an hour (November – March) or £1.60 for an hour (April – October) commencing 1 April 2019
Royals Shopping Centre – 400 spaces priced at £1.10 for an hour
Victoria Shopping Centre – 670 spaces priced at £0.90 for an hour
Sainsbury’s – 340 spaces priced at £1 for an hour (reimbursed with minimum spend instore)
Road North (from 1 April 2019) – 14 spaces priced at 20p for half an hour or 50p for an hour
Pitmans (from 1 April 2019) – 12 spaces priced at 20p for half an hour or 50p for an hour
Southend Central Station (NCP) – 138 spaces priced at £1.70 for one hour
Luker Road (Britania Parking) – priced at £0.90 for one hour.
Half and single-hour parking is also available in on-street bays in the following streets within the town centre area:
Alexandra Road, Alexandra Street, Baltic Avenue, Cambridge Road, Capel Terrace, Cashiobury Terrace, Clarence Road, Clarence Street, Clifton Terrace, Clifftown Road, Devereaux Road, Gordon Road, London Road, Nelson Street, Prittlewell Square, Queens Road, Royal Terrace, Runwell Terrace, Southchurch Road, Warrior Square, Weston Road, Victoria Avenue, Whitegate Road, York Road.