A new hourly rate will be introduced with a new parking system - but not until August
The new parking machines at Coombe Country Park
Parking at Coombe Country Park is about to get a whole lot simpler - and cheaper for some.
A new system has been installed at the popular park which uses automatic number plate recognition technology to make life easier for visitors.
Instead of queueing at one of the park’s notoriously busy pay and display machines, or paying in the visitor centre, punters will soon be able to pay when they leave the park.
The flat rate of £3.70 a day will also be abolished, with an hourly rate, which hasn’t been revealed yet, being introduced.
It's anticipated that as a result people going to the park for a couple of hours will pay well below the normal rate.
The award-winning park has been blighted with long queues to pay for parking ever since thieves ripped out five of the seven pay and display machines.
New parking machines and barriers have since been installed ahead of the system being unveiled in the next few weeks.
Coventry City Council estimate that it should be working by the end of August, giving them time to fully test the system and ensure all the season ticket holders can enter and exit the car park without being charged.
Some of the parking machines were stolen by thieves, believed to be using a mechanical claw, between May 2014 and February 2015.
At the time Andrew Walster, the council’s assistant director of green space, said a new parking system would be installed by May 2015.
So they're spending money on new machines with the intention of collecting LESS in parking fees?
Anyone else smell a rat here?
