In recent weeks Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust has been working with newly appointed car park managers Park with Ease Ltd, to install a new ‘pay on exit’ parking system across all their Torbay sites.
Park with Ease Ltd offer a more ethical parking management system by offering a simpler, fairer structure that aims to eliminate traditional parking issues such as fines and penalties.
Pioneered by North West entrepreneur, Jonathan Flatman, Park with Ease’s management systems are installed at a number of sites across the UK including national parks, attractions, shopping centres and retail outlets.
Under the new, easy-to-navigate system, customers only pay for the amount of time they park, in 20 minute intervals. There is no need for customers to guess how long they need for their visit and they can relax and enjoy the scenery without having to keep an eye on the time. Customers don’t even need to register their vehicle on arrival, as this is done automatically, and there is no need to even display a ticket. All the customer needs to do is go to the pay machine at the end of their visit, enter their registration number and pay what is due. Customers will be able to pay using cash, card or even online up to 48 hours after they leave the car park. There is a new charging structure too, allowing shorter stays from as little as 40p for 20 mins up to 4 hours and then £5 for over 4 hours. Charges apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.
Overall, the Trust feels that this new system is a fairer way for visitors to contribute to the care of the sites they manage like Berry Head National Nature Reserve, Cockington Country Park, Anstey’s Cove and other TCCT locations.
Damian Offer, Director of Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust said:
“We were particularly impressed with Park with Ease, noting that their system is operating successfully in top UK tourist destinations such as the Lake District which attracts in excess of 17 million visitors every year.
“Whilst we are experiencing some initial teething problems, we are addressing them with Park with Ease as quickly as we are able to. There is a learning curve for the Trust in the operation of the new system and the new machines, and we ask customers to bear with us. I would like to apologise to anyone experiencing problems during this early period of operating the new system and assure you that it will improve.
“The new system has already demonstrated benefits. When we became aware of the Berry Head machine being faulty on Saturday, all Trust staff were occupied in running our biggest annual fund raising event, the Occombe Beer Festival. Fortunately, we were able to access the Berry Head machine remotely via the new management system and reset it. This appeared to resolve the fault (relatively quickly) and the machine was working properly when inspected in person at lunch-time on Sunday.”
New parking signage, to supplement that already installed by Park with Ease, is also planned across the Trust’s car parks as well as investment in simple shelters/shades for some of the machines where direct sunlight is hampering the visibility of the screens.
It is also anticipated that card and contactless payment will also be facilitated at all the machines before the end of this month, which will improve the payment options for customers, especially over the busy summer period.
The Trust is keen to reassure its valued visitors and supporters that the issues reported are being addressed as they are brought to our attention and the new system will be fully operational as quickly as possible.
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