Chippenham free parking row erupts over broken machines

A debate was sparked on social media after one resident shared their experience of trying to park in Chippenham, at the Emery Gate car park.

They claimed that on Monday, September 18, the ticket machines were “switched off or not working”, sparking “distress” and confusion for those attempting to park who could not access the mobile app.

While this issue has been resolved, both machines in the Bath Road car park were out of order on Sunday, September 24, while one machine in the Sadlers Mead car park had a printer fault which was awaiting repair at the time of writing.

Residents and visitors to the town centre took to Facebook to voice their concerns about the impact of broken ticket machines on those who cannot access the MI Permit app.

One person said: “Wiltshire Council expect everyone to pay on the app but there are people who can’t do that for whatever reason, and it depends if you can actually connect to Wi-Fi as I’ve had trouble a few times and had to get my son to pay for me.”

The out of order ticket machine in Bath Road car park, Chippenham (Image: Newsquest)Another motorist added: “It's discriminatory to have to pay by phone or apps and card as many elderly (people) are not skilled at this.”

Some fear the difficulties for drivers trying to park in the town could put them off visiting and damage the High Street.

This has led to some calls online for Chippenham Town Council to offer free parking schemes in the area, something done in nearby towns such as Corsham or Malmesbury.

But a spokesperson for the town council confirmed there are currently no plans to enter into a funding agreement with Wiltshire Council to provide free parking in any of the town’s car parks.

Cllr Matthew Short explained that the huge costs of subsidising free parking made it “hard to justify”.

He said: “(Chippenham Town Council) would still have to pay Wiltshire the cost of parking, and that would have to come from the council tax precept.

The out of order ticket machine in Bath Road car park, Chippenham (Image: Newsquest)“So you would be charging everyone in town to allow some to park for free. These are larger and more expensive car parks than Corsham so the cost would be considerable.”

Cllr Ross Henning, the Wiltshire Council representative for Rowden and Lowden agreed: “The town council has to pay Wiltshire Council for that privilege which can add up to tens of thousands of pounds.”

Wiltshire Council told this paper their enforcement teams continually monitor all machines throughout the day and "respond accordingly" if faults arise.

They emphasised that ticket machines in Chippenham work the majority of the time and will be the subject of investment to keep them running.

Council leader, Councillor Richard Clewer, said: “Parking machines will inevitably sometimes experience issues such as coin jams, vandalism, power supply issues, however they are generally reliable.

"If people come across a machine that is not working correctly we would encourage them to report by contacting parkingservices@wiltshire.gov.uk so that we can arrange for engineers to visit, assess and fix or report as necessary.

“Should there be an issue with a machine, alternative methods of payment are also available at all council car parks with the option of the MI Permit app or paying by text.

The out of order ticket machine in Bath Road car park, Chippenham (Image: Newsquest)“This year, we are investing £380,000 in updating car parking machines across the county, this is to ensure that customers can continue to pay by cash or contactless, as well as via the app or text message.

“Parking tariffs are the same whether people use the app, pay and display machines or pay by text message.”