The local council here in west wales charges £1.10 for short term parking, park and ride is £1 per person, Yesterday went to hereford, £1.10 an hour public car park, had a nice day parked close to the town and lovely lunch, and superfriendly local bobby who took the time to walk us to where we could see the cathedral when we asked for directions. Nice pub lunch too! Where there is a large poulation wanting to park in a small congested area, car parking charges go through the roof! try London... OUCH!

As a regular holidaymaker to Cornwall, I find it amazing that Council car parks charge so much. Park & Ride facilities are slowly catching on, but as has been said the "quaint fishing villages" are still IMHO extortionate (Padstow being one of the worst, and is to me very over-rated, trying to live off the fame of celeb chef Rick Stein). Their loss - I try and find cheaper areas to visit when I'm down there (there are some inexpensive nice areas still around).

Park & Ride facilities, if done right (having express lanes all the way into town [partial = useless in many cases], good security and transport links [to get there by car] away from traffic-laden arterial routes into the town/city, and of course, reasonable prices) can be very handy for commuters and shoppers if they stay open late enough (last bus should be at least 7.30pm, not 6.30pm as many seem to be) and have enough space on the buses for shopping (you're lucky if most buses thesedays can seat anyone in "relative comfort" larger than a child or small adult).

I just wish politicians and council/govt staff would stop using the "stick" (high parking charges alone) and use the "carrot" a bit more often and more wisely - there always needs to be a balance of people coming to town/cities by car and via public transport, especially if you're going to be buying/transporting larger and/or heavier items, which cannot be done via public transport. Of course, what we don't need is those saying "I should be able to do as I like with my car without any consequences" - the two extremes tend to be the only ones reported in the press who love being "sensational", rather reporting on events and (separately) giving opinion.

My 2p's worth.

Driving around Central Brighton, ie from the BR Station 'Buckingham' ward, up to the seafront, with a half-mile arc from Marina on the East, to Hove on the West, is not dissimilar to driving around London's most expensive districts - Kensington, Notting Hill, Holland Park etc.

Cramped, windy streets, endless traffic control measures, bus lanes, pinch points, no-turn junctions etc. Perhaps this is why it got the 'London by the sea' moniker, together with the white fronted Edwardian and Victorian terraces. A driver who has lived or spent a reasonable amount of time in both Central London and Central Brighton, will quickly realise that parking in Brighton is worse. I would describe it as prohibitive to cars. Cambridge could also be described like this, but Cambridge imposed its limitations on cars and then planned the town centre and transport systems accordingly, Brighton has not - it simply traps visiting drivers into a web of extortionate parking charges. There is no escape.

The NCP car park on North Road, heading south from the station to the seafront, will charge you a flat £25 if you park for 1 minute over 4 hours. After that, you can stay for the remaining 20 hours free, although you'll be mad if you did.

If you decide to live in Central Brighton, in a street with residents only parking (they all are) you'lll join a waiting list of approx. 1 year from moving in to getting a sniff of a residents parking permit.

Brighton has always looked permanently filthy to me, especially the vicinty around the hideous, tasteless Brighton Royal Pavilion, easily the worst historical monument in the whole of the British Isles. But then it was commissioned by a madman.

Edited by Sulphur Man on 02/10/2012 at 18:27