Businesses at St Stephens Place continue to experience a drop in footfall despite parking rule changes.
Locals were really mad about the strict fines. The council talked to Knight Frank about it. Knight Frank manages the property. They told the parking company to stop fining people. This happened on August 29th last year.
The parking company is called UK Parking Control. The fines stopped if you visited a business there. Knight Frank said fines were now for unpaid parking only. The rule change started August 19th.
A French company bought the leisure park. They used cameras to track cars. Then parking tickets increased a lot. People even talked about boycotting the car park.
Even though the rules changed, signs stayed up. Businesses thought fewer people were coming. However, Knight Frank disagreed with them. They said businesses hadn’t reported trade drops.
Some employees did say foot traffic decreased last year. Now, employees still say it is a problem. The parking situation still confuses people, and it makes customers not want to visit.
An employee at Frankie and Benny’s noticed it. He said customers were complaining a lot. A manager at Valeroso Lounge saw a small business increase, yet trade stayed lower than before all this.
People still ask about the car park rules often. Even the Odeon cinema staff heard complaints. They said some people went to other cinemas. Knight Frank and UK Parking Control didn’t comment.