00:00Running a business in this moment is the hardest it's been all these years.
00:04Business owners in Dover struggling to fill seats and asking for the council to split
00:11the bill.
00:12But one Kent County councillor believes he's got the solution and it starts with an hour
00:18of free parking.
00:20The retail environment in Dover town is really struggling.
00:26They would like help with rents, they would like help with business rates.
00:30The government set business rates and landlords set rents.
00:34We have no control over those things.
00:36They want the councillors to do something.
00:38Dover district council has one lever they can pull and that's parking.
00:43Sandra Mallow has run the Salvet cafe for a decade and while tables might be full, she
00:49tells me it's never been harder to get people through the door.
00:53Customers can have food to pay the high prices of food.
00:57We try to keep lower and to keep lower you work harder and with the increase of rates
01:05and license and BIM collections.
01:09Just down the road, butcher Steve Rother is also finding it more difficult to bring home
01:15the bacon.
01:16It's hard work.
01:17So the town's struggling, there's lots of empty buildings, there's not as many new
01:21shops coming in to replace them.
01:23Although it's good fun running the business in Dover, it's hard working.
01:28Council owned car parks start at £1.80 per hour in Dover with both tradespeople agreeing
01:35that an hour of free parking would boost their business.
01:38It's easier to just pop into town for a couple of bits rather than going up to the bigger
01:43chains where they've all got free parking.
01:45People have been struggling to park around for cheaper car park.
01:49But such a concession could cost Dover district council around £700,000.
01:56Yeah, across the country, local councils are struggling to make ends meet and balance the
02:02books.
02:02Is this something that Dover district council can really afford?
02:08The leader of the council expressed sympathy towards struggling traders but ultimately feels
02:14council of the friends petition would need the council to cut some services to allow this
02:19to happen.
02:20James needs 1,600 signatures for this to be debated at a full council meeting and leaving shopkeepers
02:29like Steve and Sandra hoping for a solution and running on fumes.
02:34Megan Shaw in Dover.
