It’s pay and dismay at car parks
WHETHER to bus it, drive in, or get the train is a decision many of us ponder when heading to city centres.
But with the unpredictability of our railways and bus timetables, it can often feel like we have little alternative but to drive.
That’s the conclusion I came to when heading into Manchester with my daughter over the festive season.
We were going to watch a show at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, where the Manchester Central NCP is just across the other side of Lower Mosley Street.
Given the nightmare stories I’d been hearing about buses not running to schedule, and the fact we would be heading home quite late, it seemed the safest option.
What I wasn’t banking on was a £17 fee though, the tariff for a three to four hour stay.
Had I been more organised, I could have got it cheaper by paying in advance, but as I rarely use NCP car parks, or others for that matter, I wasn’t aware that was an option.
Sadly, by the time we returned to the car, the cheaper rate was no longer available. And I’d missed the opportunity to pay a £7.95 evening rate to park between 6pm and midnight, as this needed to be sorted in advance too – and isn’t particularly well advertised.
In fact, the opportunity to pay via the app had disappeared too, due to ‘autopay maintenance,’ which is affecting a number of its car parks.
We could have paid at the machine, but there was a lady struggling with that and calling for help, so I was left with the option of paying via the website once I got home. There’s a hefty fee for anyone who forgets to do that. When did parking become so difficult and so expensive? It’s almost as if nobody wants us to park in the city centre at all. Maybe that’s the grand plan.
Having a look at some of the prices at other NCPs in the city centre is also an eye-opener. At Sackville Street, for example, you’ll pay a whopping £32.75 for anything over five hours. At NCP Spinningfields, which is popular for those heading to the Opera House and Everyman Cinema on Quay Street, if you tip over six hours, you’re faced with a staggering £34.95. A spokesperson for NCP said: “All our prices are clearly displayed on entry and throughout the car park, as well as on our app so customers can see the cost to park before parking with us.
“Our pricing structure on each site reflects the location of the car park and the proximity to the city centre.” Manchester City Council says the NCP car parks are privately run and nothing to do with the local authority.
It’s almost as if nobody wants us to park in the city centre at all. Maybe that’s the grand plan Emma Gill