A leading city councillor has been quizzed on the decision to radically shake-up the car parking charges across the district as a petition against the new fees gathers momentum.
Councillor Gina Dowding took questions on the changes to car parking fees across the district, which have proven unpopular with residents, during a meeting of Lancaster City Council on Wednesday night.
The new fees came into effect on April 11 at council-run car parks in Lancaster and Morecambe.
More information on the new car parking prices can be found here.
Councillor Dowding, during her annual report to fellow councillors, was asked by Conservative councillor Joan Jackson if a review of the charges would take place.
"I am aware there is a lot of concern, with petitions," said Councillor Dowding, who is cabinet member for strategic planning and place making on the council.
"Some of that isn't unexpected, because prices have increased.
"We will be monitoring the impact of this increase in costs.
"The last thing we want to do is to stop people visiting the city centre."
The Green party councillor said there would be "monthly reports" produced on the impact of the car parking fee changes, and all councillors would be briefed in June to "see what feedback we are getting from our communities and businesses".
She also reassured people who are struggling to pay using the RingGo car parking app that all Lancaster City Council-run car parks would continue to have cash and card payment options.
Councillor Erica Lewis from the Labour group, said the car parking shake-up had come as a "nasty surprise" to local theatres and asked what public consultation had been done before introducing the new fees.
Councillor Dowding (pictured below) said that an additional 6pm-8am tariff of £4 in car parks across Lancaster and Morecambe, effective from May, and a £5 for five hours tariff on the St Leonardgate car park in Lancaster, had been added after consultation with theatres, as well as Morecambe and Lancaster BIDs (Business Improvement Districts).
She also said the range of parking permits offered "relatively low cost for regular visitors coming into town on a daily or weekly basis".
Councillor Gerry Blaikie, from the Liberal Democrats, asked why there was a two hour car parking tariff in Morecambe but not Lancaster.
"The idea behind it was to encourage people to stay for longer," said Councillor Dowding.
"The three-hour was by far the most popular tariff used in Lancaster car parks. We can look at the data when it comes through."
Councillor Keith Budden, from the Conservative group, said he believed motorists should be able to pay for the time they park.
"You should be paying for what you use, I think people would be more comfortable with that," he said.
Councillor Dowding said motorists could 'top up' using the RingGo app, giving an example that if motorists had paid for an hour but then decided they needed to stay half-an-hour longer, they could add on the extra time remotely using the app.
But she said there was a 20p cost to pay by RingGo and also a 10p cost to receive text message reminders with car parking details, which motorists need to opt out of. She said council officers were investigating whether this could be changed to an 'opt-in' option.
At this, Conservative councillor Stuart Morris said it was "an absolute shambles".
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