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Take a look at this then:
New Thetford Forest car parking scheme
Visitors are being warned that they will have to pay at more Thetford Forest sites from this weekend with the introduction of a trial mobile phone parking scheme.
Forestry officials revealed their new environmentally friendly and flexible car park charging system today, which will force drivers to pay via text message or telephone.
From Saturday the Forestry Commission will begin a four month pilot scheme at seven of its East Anglian car parks - six of which are currently free to use.
Officials from the government organisation said that the introduction of charges at Lynford Water, Lynford Zig Zag, Lynford Stag, Santon Downham, St Helen's and Two Mile Bottom in Thetford Forest Park, will help to pay maintenance costs and potentially restore play facilities to some of their sites.
The new initiative will ask drivers visiting the trial sites, which also includes Rendlesham Forest, near Woodbridge, to pay a £2 daily rate at venues with toilet facilities and £1 for those without on their mobile phone or land line before midnight on the day of their visit.
Forest rangers will be equipped with electronic devices to check whether people have paid and those that do not do so within 14 days will be sent a £10 administration charge and could face legal proceedings if they fail to cough up.
Roger Woods, spokesman for the Forestry Commission, said some of the sites previously had pay and display machines, which had become too difficult to administer and had been vandalised. He added that the organisation only had a £37,000 budget to maintain facilities at the 25,000ha Thetford Forest Park - excluding High Lodge - and the extra income generated by the scheme could help return play equipment removed from Lynford Stag and St Helen's picnic area 18 months ago.
“This avoids the need for parking machines or other infrastructure which could damage the forest environment or be vandalised. We also hope the system will be an easier way for people to pay. The funds raised will be used to improve facilities in local woodlands and access to woodland is, and will remain free,” he said.
An estimated 1.5m people visit Thetford Forest every year, with the majority coming by car and using its 13 car parks.
Mr Woods said that Friends of Thetford Forest Park members and High Lodge season ticket holders were exempt from the phone payment scheme. Information leaflets will be available from car parks and the Forestry Commission office at Santon Downham, near Brandon, he added.
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Unfortunately it has been reported on tv that lots of people are unable to get through on their phones,to pay, or some arrive without phones, so the scheme is driving people away now, if you will pardon the pun. The reported at the scene had tried three times to phone through and pay, and had not succeeded. Another harebrained scheme that doesn't work and will stop people enjoying the fabulous forest.
Lizx
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HUNDREDS of city centre shoppers were overcharged after a blunder caused cheap weekend parking to be scrapped.
NCP car park staff in Manchester said they had received dozens of complaints after shocked customers went to payment machines to find that the special £2.50 all-day Sunday charge had been dumped.
Many refused to pay and filled in forms asking to take up the matter with NCP bosses, said one attendant. He said `people were being asked to pay treble the usual fee' for a day's stay. But NCP Manchester - a partnership between the car park firm and Manchester council - has said removing the Sunday tariff was an `administrative oversight' at four sites last weekend.
These were the M.E.N. Arena car park; Arndale (High Street); Church Street and Market Place, where customers were, instead, charged the hourly weekday rate.
Bosses have now returned the car parks to the £2.50 rate and have said they would pay a refund to visitors.
Blunder
The blunder came to light after fundraisers taking part in the Great Manchester Run last Sunday told the M.E.N. of unusually high parking bills after the charity event.
A Manchester council spokesman, on behalf of NCP Manchester, said: "Removing the Sunday tariff at a small number of car parks was an administrative oversight which has now been rectified.
"As this was an administrative error on our behalf, we are willing to refund the difference between the usual weekday fee and extra Sunday charge, for those parkers that have retained their tickets for either or both of the affected Sundays."
The higher tariff was mistakenly introduced on Sunday, May 11 amid an overhaul designed to harmonize charges at NCP's 45 city centre sites.
Under the new trial structure, three parking zones have been created: Zone One for short stay shoppers in the heart of the city; Zone Two, which is an intermediate zone providing both shopper and event parking; and Zone Three, aimed at providing cheap, all-day parking to reward commuters who park on the edge of the city centre.
While the new scheme means a drop in charges at some sites, those parking in the Arndale for more than six hours will have to pay a £20 fee, which goes up to £24 for a 12-to-24-hour stay.
The council said it would review the success of the pricing structure with its partners in the autumn.
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© M.E.N. media 2008
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My family and friends, now book in to a Hotel the night before flight at Gartwick or Heathrow, they say it is cheaper than paying car parking for the time they are away. Car left in Hotel Car Park.
Mo
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You should try Gatwick Short Stay,One and a Quarter Hrs,£9.70. Unbelievable, but then again "Spanish Practices" they now own the Airports in the UK.**M**.
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A friend of mine has just warned me about parking charges,
she went to the Arndale centre in Manchester, she goes every
sunday ,Last weekend she came to pay her usual £2-50 fee
only to find she had a ticket for £20, when she queried it,
she was told that was the new price, she didnt see any sign
notifying folk of the change,cant do a thing about it once you
have got your ticket,wonder how many more have got caught
out!!! shows we need to watch out...
Jean x
Edif btw it is £20 every day now!!
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