A Penarth hospice has warned new parking charges planned for the area could impact on its ability to continue caring for people.
The Marie Curie hospice on Bridgeman Road wrote to Vale Council recently to express its concern over the decision to agree in principle to new on-street car parking charges, proposed for a number of locations in Penarth and Barry Island.
A number of traders and residents have already expressed their anger over the plans, with two petitions having gained more than 5,000 signatures between them.
Vale Council said the parking charge plans will help provide funding to look after seaside resorts in the Vale and increase the turn over of parking there.
In a letter, Marie Curie Cardiff and The Vale Hospice said the charges will have a “significant detrimental impact” on its ability to continue providing services like outpatient appointments, complimentary therapies, bereavement counselling, dementia support groups and wellbeing activities for patients, families and carers.
Talking about the impact car parking charges could have on staff, it adds: “Whilst we accept there is no entitlement for staff to have free parking, it is already a very difficult employment market to recruit skilled staff and to add this factor as an additional barrier would mean that staff would look for alternative employment opportunities where they did not have to pay this additional cost."
“Ultimately if we can’t attract staff then we will be unable to safely staff our beds meaning that we will have to reduce bed capacity, resulting in people being admitted to hospital as an alternative."
“If beds are reduced this would also impact on the future viability of the hospice in the current location.”
Vale Council also plans to bring in off-street parking charges to a number of car parks across the county.
In a cabinet report on the proposed car parking charges, council chiefs said they were looking at charges that could go up to £10 for a whole day.
However, in a presentation given to scrutiny committee members this week, council officers showed that the following charging schedule is being looked at for off-street parking:
- Up to two hours – £2
- Up to three hours – £4
- Up to four hours – £6
- All day – £8
The following charging schedule is being considered by the council for on-street parking:
- Up to two hours – £2.50
- Up to three hours – £4
- Up to four hours – £6
Marie Curie, which has had a Penarth hospice for 65 years, said car parking charges could also affect visitors and patients.
Although visitors can park in the car park attached to the building, the hospice said this only has 10 spaces and that some people may need to spend a number of days visiting their loved ones “which would mean having to pay a significant cost at an already very difficult time”.
The hospice also said it may struggle to attract volunteers to help run services, like counselling and ward support, if a charge is brought in.
Vale Council’s director of environment and housing, Miles Punter, said it is difficult to estimate how much of an impact the charge will have on displacement until it is brought in.
However, he said they will monitor each site after its rollout address any major challenges if they arise.
On-street car parking charges at Penarth seafront will affect The Esplanade, Cliff Hill, Cliff Parade, and sections of Beach Road and Bridgeman Road.
Parking charges at Barry Island will affect Paget Road, Breaksea Drive, Friars Road, and Station Approach Road.
The current arrangement in place for these sites is that drivers can park for up to two hours for free.
One issue that the council and some businesses have picked up on is that many cars are left in parking spots for more than two hours.
Making sure people adhere to this rule also requires regular parking enforcement patrols according to the council.
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