Eastbourne non-profit: Removal of parking meters across town will have a ‘detrimental effect’

Organisation Friends of Eastbourne Seafront said it is ‘very concerned’ following the news that East Sussex County Council (ESCC) intends to remove several parking meters in the town.

Out of 141 machines in Eastbourne, 71 are set to be removed, according to Gaynor Sedgwick, chair of the non-profit group.

The machines identified for removal have had purple signs placed on them in the past few weeks. These signs state the machines are ‘no longer in use’ and request that motorists use app RingGo, which charges a ‘small convenience fee’, to pay for their parking, or use another machine indicated on a map.

Ms Sedgwick said: “This will make it very difficult for those with mobility issues, and means leaving children and vulnerable people in the car to go and search for a parking meter.

“This is a cost cutting exercise which will have a detrimental effect on people wanting to visit Eastbourne.

"We should be making it easy to park, not difficult for local people and visitors.”

ESCC said the decision comes following a ‘decline in use’ of machines across Eastbourne.

An ESCC spokesperson said: “We appreciate that removing machines will have an impact on some motorists, but we need to balance this against the cost of maintaining the current number of machines.

“The option to pay at a machine is still available and where we are planning on removing a machine, there will be another a short distance away that can be used.

"Notices on the machines also have information about how to pay by phone, app or online, and a smart phone is not required to make payment."

Residents shared their thoughts about the changes with us last week, with Stacey Renouf calling the decision ‘discriminatory’.

Ms Renouf said: “I’m all for change and moving with the times, but you can’t discriminate in the process and have to make it accessible for all.”

ESCC said residents can give their views about the removal of a particular machine by emailing: [email protected].

"All the feedback received will be taken into consideration before any machine is permanently removed,” the council added.