NEW barriers introduced in the capital’s car parks came under fire during this week’s meeting of Douglas Council.
Since the new system started on May 16 last year revenue from the car parks has dropped compared with last year and is also less than anticipated in the council’s budget.
Problems with the ticket machines at the Bottleneck car park on the seafront have had to be rectified by cannibalising parts from the machines at the Bowl car park which are still awaiting spares so they can be repaired.
In the meantime, commercial vehicles including a mobile hoist are parking at the Bowl, councillors heard.
Council leader David Christian (Hills ward) said he was unable to see what benefit the new system had brought to the town.
‘The income has decreased, there are tailbacks at the barriers during busy periods, which you did not see at the pay and display system and we’ve had all the teething problems with it,’ he said.
‘I hope the chairman will explain what the benefits are.’
Among other teething problems, the new machines were at times unable to read the magnetic strips on tickets, meaning some drivers had to be released without payment.
Public works committee chairman Cllr David Ashford (Victoria ward) said income for the car parks was low before the barriers were introduced.
‘The way people use car parks has changed,’ he said, adding people were more often walking to work and changes to bus timetables could also have affected people’s behaviour.
‘More and more people have started finding alternative ways of getting to work and there have been job losses in the town centre,’ he said.
Despite a fall in income, he said figures this year were still very similar to the previous year.
Income in April, before the barriers were introduced, for all three car parks – Shaw’s Brow, the Bottleneck and the Bowl – income was £8,000 under budget and £4,500 less than the previous year. In May, income for the three car parks was £11,000 under budget and £5,000 under that of the previous year, ‘but the barriers were not operational until May 18,’ he said.
Since that date, he said, the income had risen and Shaw’s Brow had almost reached capacity on several occasions. He added the new system ensured everyone parking there was a paying customer rather than drivers who took a chance and parked without buying a ticket.
Referring to the advantages of the new system, he said he thought people preferred the automated system: ‘We now have a pre-payment system in place so people can budget for their parking.
‘The benefit to the rate payer should show next year.’
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FACTFILE
Income from April to November last year for all three car parks (excluding revenue for fines and contract spaces etc) was £248,000.
• The equivalent figure for the same period in 2010 was £275,000.
• In Apr 2011 (the month before the barrier system became operational) that month’s income fell by £4,480 compared with Apr 2010.
• The gap in income between May 2010 and May 2011 was £6,482. The barriers took effect from May 18th.
• The gap between June 2011 and June 2010 however was less than £1,000 (2011 being the lower figure in each case).