Businesses react as new parking charges kick in, with Free After Three scaled back and Sunday flat rates introduced

Sunderland city centre business owners have had their say after the council's reduction in its Free After Three parking scheme and the introduction of Sunday parking charges at some locations came into force.

As reported in the Echo, the scheme offering free parking after 3pm in council-owned carparks and on street parking bays, which was designed to attract more people to the city centre, has been reduced.

The initiative was introduced to boost Sunderland's economy and applied to most city centre parking bays, including St Mary’s and Sunniside car parks which have around 1,100 spaces between them.

The new £14million Riverside car park has never been part of the scheme. It has 657 bays, making it the largest in the city.

It meant that from 3pm to midnight, Monday to Friday, most city centre parking was free, which was particularly useful for the hospitality trade, as well as for late afternoon shoppers. There were also options for free parking on Sundays.

However, the ruling cabinet agreed at a meeting last September that the initiative would be scaled back as well as increasing hourly charges.

A 10p increase was agreed to parking charges, as well as the introduction of a £3 daily rate for a Sunday and a Bank Holiday in all city centre parking locations, the only exception being Christmas Day, and an extension of street charges to cover Monday to Sunday

Prior to this, no charges were made in any off street car parks or on street parking locations in the city centre on a Sunday.

Those changes came into force this month, with Free After Three week day parking now limited to five smaller surface car parks with 260 parking spaces in total.

These are Gorse Road in Ashbrooke, Charles Street down from the Echo 24 flats, West Wear Street, Tatham Street and Nile Street in Sunniside, which are all on the periphery of the city centre.

The changes do not apply, however, to Blue Badge holders who can still park free and for unlimited time in any of the council’s city centre car parks and on street parking places with the exception of Riverside, St Mary’s and Sunniside car parks which operate a pay on foot system of parking where normal charges apply.

Locations where parking was previously free after 6pm also remain unchanged.

Nathan Outhwaite owns Spent Grain restaurant in John Street and says the changes could cause people to visit elsewhere.

He said: "I personally think that January is a tough time for business and customers and the council should be trying to encourage people to come shop/dine in the city but, by not only putting the charges back in place, but increasing the prices is just going to push people to to go elsewhere such as Dalton park and the Metro Centre which offers free parking.

"For example the pay and display bays next to the restaurant are now £1.10 per 30mins which seems like a joke."

Gerard Purvis, director of Port clothing store on the corner of St Thomas Street and John Street said many had been caught out by the introduction of the Sunday flat rate at locations.

"All I saw on Sunday was yellow tickets on people's windows," he said. "The removal of the scheme is bad enough but the poor communication around it is just as bad.

"For most people a £70 fine in January would be a real struggle. It feels like the council haven’t executed any aspect of this well and it will only cause people to avoid the city centre.

"I understand the strain the council is under to maintain funds to deliver public services and parking and fines are an easy revenue stream, but there has to be some support for businesses which will see a big drop in customer as a direct result of this."

Federico Trulli, owner of Angelo's in Sunniside, was one of those to receive a parking ticket after not realising that changes had come into force.

His restaurant used to benefit from free parking after 3pm on the street outside, but that is now limited to after 6pm which he says affects early evening trade.

Sunderland City Council said the hourly tariff increase was the first since 2018 and that parking in the city was good value, with the report outlining that changes to parking were part of a drive to encourage more sustainable modes of transport.

Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Dynamic City, Cllr Kevin Johnston, said: "We agreed to these parking changes in September and they were widely communicated in local media, social media, and with public notices and reminders in car parks.

"As stated several times, Free After 3pm is not ending and these are the first hourly tariff increases since 2018.

"Parking remains exceptionally good value across Sunderland and our city centre hosts many retail, business, personal and professional services, and leisure opportunities, that cannot be found elsewhere.

"As a council we are continuing to support and invest in our city centre as more people come to work and live around Riverside Sunderland, work is underway on new developments at the Culture House and Eye Infirmary, we have a new Railway Station, and all this is alongside new shops, pubs, clubs and hotels, and housing.

 "Changes in parking are part of the dynamism of a vibrant city.

 "Free After 3pm continues in five council surface car parks (Gorse Road, Charles Street, West Wear Street, Tatham Street and Nile Street)."