Drivers using Dorset Council car parks are being asked to use cashless payments due to ongoing disruption to many ticket machines across the county.
If a machine is currently unable to accept cash payment, drivers will still need to pay for parking via a cashless method.
This may involve using a phone and will require locating the unique car park identification number. This is displayed on signs throughout the car park and can also be found on the side of the payment machine.
There are four cashless options to choose from:
- Downloading the Just Park app to your smartphone
- Paying by mobile phone, using details found on the side of the payment machine
- For those without a smartphone, you can register with JustPark online at home and pay by SMS (text message) in the car park
- Some car park payment machines offer debit/credit card payment, this can be checked in advance online at dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/parking
Drivers may find it beneficial to set some of these options up in advance, such as inputting car registration and card details into the JustPark app while at home or registering for SMS payment online.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “We’re sorry for this disruption. This is very much a temporary measure and we are working hard to reinstate cash payments, which we know are the preferred option for many of our residents.
“Please be prepared to use a cashless method of payment while we work through this issue, it’s going to take several weeks to get cash payments operating again.”
It’s hoped that cash payments will be available again in all car parks by early December.
Why has this happened?
Dear Council, Do you have an answer to why this has happened?
Parking fees for cashless payment are priced such that you cannot just park for an hour
Example Nothe Gardens. Currently
50p buys an hour but min cashless ie credit card payment is 2.50 if the machine works cashless.
spent a quarter of an hour trying to help a visitor to pay via credit card and ended up swapping £5 cash in change so they could visit Fort.
For those without a smartphone, you can register with JustPark online at home and pay by SMS (text message) in the car park.
Ah right, how do you do that if you don’t have a mobile phone?
I don’t have a smart phone or know how to use apps. Does this mean that I will be unable to do any Christmas shopping ?
82 year old.
I just had a problem in car park in Yeovil. Couldn’t use my “Dorset pass” there, obviously. Put correct money in machine and it came back to me. Tried phoning but “no signal”. So wrote a lengthy explanatory note for Attendant and left in view. All was well when I returned just before my 2 hours were up. I shall do the same if necessary in Dorset as I don’t have a smartphone and can’t text.
PS from B. Cooke!
I am 85 with my wits about me, but needing to use a Rollator sometimes.
I so agree with the comments below about discrimination against the elderly.
We are still able to drive but are being penalised for not owning a mobile phone. Just how much longer is this going to continue?
I don’t use a mobile phone. So what happens to people like me when the ticket machine does not accept debit/credit cards? Are we not allowed to use car parks until December?
What a terrible state of affairs.
What happens if you don’t use online banking as we won’t and I thought the instructions rather difficult to understand for a lot of elderly and non technical public
I do not have a smart phone.
I do not want to get out of parking charges and feel there should be some way round this nonsense.
Perhaps the coop in Beaminster square could sell parking tickets or the council waive charges until the new machines are installed.
The council caused the problem, ergo………………
Big Brother strikes . I resent the increasing expectation that mobile phones are a means of obtaining personal information by any organisation that may or may not have stringent control over its use. I will avoid these car parks, shop elsewhere if necessary.
What an abdication of responsibility! With the non-existence of a decent Public Transport network the residents of Dorset pretty much have to use private vehicles to get around in their daily lives.
The provision of car parking should be the Civic Responsibility of the County Council, NOT farmed out to a private company to make a profit from!
Companies like Park Pay would be really happy if all payments had to be made electronically. In which case computers would handle all the payments and cameras would monitor the car parks and automatically dish out fines for non-payment or overstayers. Staffing costs minimal, profits huge.
Cash is legal currency in this country and we should all be able to use it. If you can’t sort out the problems then do away with Park Pay and make the car parks free to use!
How do I manage to do any shopping ? I don’t own a mobile
and I don’t know what an ‘app’ is
Or what sms means. I am an 82 year old widow and this is just one more nail in my coffin.
What can I do? I am perfectly willing to pay, but it all seems too
difficult.
Re ‘Some car park payment machines offer debit/credit card payment, this can be checked in advance online at dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/parking’-
No- there is no correct information on the site, just generic information that includes that all the ticket machines accept cash! The situation is unacceptable and there should be free parking for up to 2 hours until it is sorted, or pay a traffic warden to accept cash at each site which should bring in enough money to pay them & the council. (Doubt that this will be considered or happen)
If the driver is willing to pay beans of cash, and does not have an internet phone how can he be refused access to park his car. There are a big number of senior drivers who do not use the internet. As such they will not have any advanced notice of this.
Not everyone has a mobile phone or credit card so this is discriminatory. Additionally, the card/App minimum payment appears to be for 2 hours and there is no option for 30 minutes. Given that this situation is the responsibility of the Council it seems unfair to penalise CT payers it would have made more sense to allow free parking up to 2 hours, particularly to support our town centres trying to compete with online businesses.
Great response
Fully agree with you Trudie. I actively now avoid going into Blandford centre.
Utterly ridiculous without a thought for the elderly generation who may not even have a mobile phone but will face a hefty bill when they arrive back at their car. This situation will also decrease footfall in already struggling town centres!
Clearance Ray Bryan, this is NOT acceptable. These car parks should be made free until the issue is resolved, a fairly obvious solution to the problem. I am sure such a move would help the council prioritise fixing the issu.
Furthermore, the road from West Allington up towards Salway Ash is in a disgusting condition. Have you driven up it recently? If you do plan to journey in this direction may I suggest a 4 wheel drive off road type vehicle. It would be much better suited. It needs urgent repairs!
It’s all well and good asking people to use their ‘smart phones’ or mobile phones but my experience of using such a method is very hit and miss. There are areas of Dorset which provide very poor mobile phone signals or none at all. I have tried using the Just Park App in Dorchester [where one would have expected a decent signal] and when trying to pay the curser rolls round and round and cannot connect. There are areas in Dorset with no signal to send a text? I have had problems in other areas of the country where a warning sticker is stuck on the payment machine informing the user that payments may take a long time due to lack of 4g signalling? I expect if a driver is unable to use the cashless method advised then enforcement officers will jump to attention and dish out £60 fines! This is really unacceptable.
As per all the above comments, this is totally unacceptable. Numerous people do not have or use smart phones and this situation will cause enormous stress and anxiety. The Council must rectify the situation immediately, including if necessary the option of free parking until the issue is resolved. The public are being penalised through no fault of their own.
None of the parking machines I have tried to use in various parts of the county work with any form of payment whether cash or smartphone. It’s been like this for over a year. I have tried complaining but to no avail . It’s a disgrace but typical of DCC!
Why isn’t the council giving free parking as a gesture of good will? After all is said and done the problem is theirs not the CV publics.
Curious as to how this situation has happened, perhaps the council could explain fully the reason and whose responsibility it is.
Living in the centre of Dorset with a very poor mobile signal, I have never bothered to spend loads of money on a mobile phone. I do have a £10 one which works fine wherever I go down in France ? If the parking machines will not take money that’s hardly my fault, I’ll just not bother paying.
hi i park in dorchester on a regular basis // i have a basic phone / with no what you call apts // if i canot put cash in m/chine what do regards g field
This is discriminatory why should those without a smartphone have to pay a booking fee?
I couldn’t agree more with the thoughts expressed above . If the council cannot sort it , let us off paying till the issue is fixed . It is not our fault . ! Why should we pay for a technical fault which is not ours ! Life is difficult for us old folk as it is , without making it worse through no fault of our own. .
I have always used JustPark. So tell me why did the enforcement officer give me a parking ticket for not displaying a ticket, which they say is compulsory, when you are not issued with a ticket using JustPark. The time of departure can be also be extended remotely. And why did it take a month for this ticket to be cancelled? Why aren’t the parking officers co-ordinating with JustPark so erroneous fines aren’t issued?
Put simply, these so called temporary arrangements do not work for a large proportion of car park users – they will not pay because they can’t pay. The 01305 number tells you where you are (big deal!) and then has the cheek to die on you part way through its sequence – in Blandford Market area with its 30 minute only option for 40p it makes no sense even if the system was workable. I admit to giving up after wasting over 5 minutes on an abortive call. It is unfair to traffic wardens to expect them to enforce against anyone unable to master this nonsensical system. It is disrespectful to all council tax payers. It stops the elderly from visiting friends who live in town. One wonders whether any councillor has succeeded in entering a 16 digit card number in the pouring rain? Whoever is responsible should be dismissed for gross misconduct in public office!
Come on Dorset Council, just tell us WHY this is happening and make the parks free in the meantime.
This whole situation is totally unacceptable. Dorset Council should be legally obliged to suspend charges until they have resolved the problem. How on earth can it be difficult to service and empty a parking meter. It is no doubt due to the council’s decision to increase parking charges and they haven’t sorted out how to change all the meters to reflect new charges. This council has only one agenda and that is to fleece residents in every way possible. Highest council tax in the country, money wasted on miles of cycle paths hardly ever used and in a time when we have huge price increases in cost of living. It is discriminatory to insist that residents must use smart phones etc when so many elderly people have to use their cars to shop but don’t have electronic means to pay and can’t afford the upfront costs of a permit which they will never get value from. Mr Bryan should be ashamed and resign.
Cllr’s No Brain Bryan and the wilted Flower are no longer fit for purpose! Suggest you idiots both resign before you cause any further damage to Dorset!
This seems like a sneaky way to introduce cashless payments. There were some valid points made ie no phone, online banking but no answers. If you have made a mess of things own up and allow free parking for the duration. I for one will not use my phone to pay for anything.
I’d love to know why this has happened? Presumably our rate money goes towards buying and maintaining the system, and there’s about to be a hefty increase in parking fees. I’ve never heard of multiple machines failing before. May we know why?
I agree with other comments – I do own a mobile phone, but sorry, it’s elderly and won’t download the app. What about people who don’t have computers or mobiles? The assumption seems to be everyone is technically up to date, savvy, and wealthy.
Just make all car parks free. Then the council would save on wages, no wardens, no machines to go wrong, no third parties to pay, no cut for Just park, need I say more!
I repeat the previous comments about the effect on older people.
This IS DISCRIMINATORY and shows a total contempt by those in charge of this!
We would willingly pay cash for a parking place but do not have the means to pay by any other method listed – therefore we are being discriminated against. Many others must be in the same situation. If the Council is unable to provide the service parking should be free until they resolve the matter.
Unfair on those of us with inadequate phones and inability to see the screen on the machine, especially when the sun is shining on it.
Luckily, I obtained a 6 month Parking Permit a while ago. Probably should get a Blue Badge too.
Agree 100% with comments above. I don’t have a smartphone, and my experience of trying to use a dumbphone to access parking payment was an unhappy one. Just for once, be realistic!
I initially used the JustPark App……what a palaver, as it took nearly half an hour to register, but eventually was able to make payment. The next time I visited one of the Council Car Parks I tried to use the JUstPark App again and it came up with details of an address outside of Dorset, where I have not resided for 4 years nor is my current vehicle registered to. This necessitated my having to ‘edit’ my details and then it wouldn’t accept payment as the bank card I used was not registered to the original address displayed in the App…..technology is good when it works but causes all sorts of problems when it does not.
Even yesterday when I used a Council Car Park the meter was accepting ‘card only’ payments, which I chose over using the JustPark App, but it didn’t give a parking ticket and there was no number displayed to contact the Council Offices when a fault like this occurs.
This is ludicrous. If the Council do not provide full payment facilities they surely cannot enforce penalties. I hope that this is put to the test. They should obviously suspend charges until normal service is resumed.
It seems to me that there is an equality issue here and those without some sort of mobile device or who cannot use one for whatever reason (usually the older generation or the financially distressed) are being discriminated against and not allowed to use public carparks. Is there a solicitor out there who would be willing to lead an action against the Council pro bono to challenge this state of affairs?
Unacceptable option to request payment by phone!
If cash or contactless payments available okay.
If not carpark payments should be suspended, until service restored.
Does anyone in authority read these comments? I hope they do and perhaps recognise they’ve made a big blunder almost parallel to the one made in parliament last week.
Back down, and as has already been suggested, allow free parking until the problem is fixed.
Sid
These car parks should be free. Think of people for a change and not profit. Particularly after the awful time we’ve been and are still going through. Have a heart!
An ever increasing challenge for those with limited access to mobile phones, internet banking and reluctance to use cards in public places away from buildings and maybe limited in movement. Seems councils fail to think through the reality of how many ordinary people, not all old, function. Not everyone has a mobile phone. Is a phone available at each car park? – No.
Another instance of incompetent management by Dorset Council and no evidence given as to why cash payments need to be suspended – or is this a first stage where they will not be accepted long term.
Run up to Christmas, Dorset shops require support and Dorset Council no nothing again.
Why has this come from a Cllr. member who takes responsibility and not Cabinet ?
Don’t use a mobile phone, so what it means to me is I can’t go shopping in Dorset until you fix this, are you allowed to do this legally? What if i turn up to your car park, park and walk away, are you going to fine me? A very sad state of affairs, you gave free parking during the covid, one of your daft ideas, all that loss of revenue, then you wanted us to pay by phone and not cash, we are paying ridiculous sums of money in council tax, how much revenue are you going to lose because your machines are not working?
This is not acceptable situation, why has it arisen? If the Council expects to receive revenue from car parking it should ensure that cash can be used to pay by everyone.
Agree previous comment.
Stop charging until the issue is resolved.
Don’t forget you pay extra on the phone.
I got caught out in Wareham yesterday. I wouldn’t mind, but the machine ate £1.30p. How are people going to be reimbursed? Luckily I was travelling with a friend who was able to download the app.
There should be signs on the machines to warn people.
Surely parking fees go to private companies, not to the Council. If their machines aren’t fit for purpose just now, surely that’s their hard luck – no reason why users should have to take action to solve it.
Motorists shouldn’t have to go to these lengths – and certainly shouldn’t go to other towns to avoid the situation. If you’re on a bus route, take the bus and all these infuriations will disappear! If not on a bus-route, nag your local authority, your MP and write to the national and local press and demand action!
I am pleased to see this long list of complaints. The public needs to wake up to the fact that the UK government is driving us towards a cashless society.
Digital currency, facial recognition and getting more like China every day. The Dorset Council needs to stand up to all of this and look after its council tax payers – we do not consent to going cashless.
This situation is just wrong on so many levels. The payment system is simply not fit for purpose therefore cancel the contract and re-instate the previous system at the contractors cost. It doesn’t work, they don’t get paid – seems straightforward.
As an interim measure, maybe a person could be employed in the car parks to take payments in exchange for tickets – just a thought!
Apparently, ‘the external cash collectors have not been able to empty ticket machines as often as needed’. I hope their contract will be withdrawn, they will not be paid and compensation given to local tax-payers.
even more hilarious than the idea that JustPark payment for parking is going to work when you need it to (I am 1 for 3 there) is the inference in the ‘parking’ area on the council’s website that Mipermit is the system in use! You couldn’t make it up.