00:00With views over the sea, Aberystwyth Promenade is one of the most popular parking areas in the county, says Ceredigion
00:06Council.
00:06Previously, it's been free to park here, and many spaces don't have a time limit.
00:11That was all meant to change today, but as you can see, the covers are still on the pay and
00:16display machines.
00:17When the scheme does come into effect, which could be tomorrow, drivers will have to pay £3.50 for up
00:23to two hours parking, £5 for four.
00:26The council says it's not about raising money, but rather to increase the turnover of parking spaces, which they hope
00:33will bring more people into town.
00:36But many owners of businesses near the prom think it could have the opposite effect.
00:41Charging £3.50 for two, three hours of parking, a lot of locals are going to refuse to pay that.
00:48Perhaps it won't be as much of an issue for tourists, but I think local people who want to come
00:52into town and pop in just to buy a newspaper
00:55or birthday cards from the Welsh bookshop, I think it is going to affect that.
01:01The council says research from other towns with similar parking fees suggests there shouldn't be a negative impact.
01:08There's a survey being done.
01:10Those places that do charge already, places like Llandydno and Llandreloenros in England,
01:18and Great Yarmouth and Cromer, they found that there hasn't been a negative effect on businesses and tourists to the
01:27towns there.
01:28Parking in Aberystwyth has long been a problem, and the council has considered charging to park on the prom for
01:33many years.
01:34When the new scheme is in place, will local people pay?
01:37We've been lucky to have it free for this long, but things have got to be paid for, and it's
01:42not extortionate,
01:43but it's not equally not as great if you work in town.
01:45I don't really want to park in town and then pay for it because I don't see the point, really.
01:51It's difficult enough for people to afford things in this day and age, isn't it?
01:57Yeah, I mean, town isn't as busy as it used to be years ago, neither.
02:00It seems there are some technical difficulties with the payment machines today, so so far, nobody has been able to
02:06pay.
02:06Staff are on the prom trying to solve any problems before the new scheme takes effect.
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