THE impact of controversial new on-street parking charges in part of Hereford’s historic core is already being felt, business owners have said.

Pay and display meters came into force for some of Hereford’s city centre streets – including St Owen Street, King Street, Bridge Street and Broad Street – earlier this month, despite many objections being made during the consultation phase.

And business owners – who say there has already been a noticeable shift in trade since the charges were introduced – have spoken out about how they have been left feeling ‘ignored’.

Leo Pavi, who runs the independent Ponte Vecchio restaurant on Bridge Street, said: “Since the parking meters were installed we have had three of the worst weeks ever recorded. A normal week sees 100 people through our doors.

“The weeks immediately after the installations saw 60 people come to us, and this week is only marginally better.

“It seems highly coincidental that the two things happened at the same time and we are incredibly upset at the council for not listening to our views before they implemented the scheme.

“We did, by chance, find a big document online, listing the businesses and their responses to the council about the proposed scheme.

“Not one of the replies indicated that paying for parking across the city centre would help the businesses.”

Photos taken of some of the usually busy roads show a reduced number of vehicles parked up since the roll-out of charges.

Mr Pavi added: “Our area in particular is full of businesses which rely on short visits from clients who may just be parking a very short while to pick up a takeaway sandwich from a cafe, collect keys or details for houses from estate agents, or popping to a pharmacy for a prescription.

“If more cars start to pay to park in the run up to Christmas, we feel as though this will drop immediately in the new year, as people once again, no longer need to pop into town for festive reasons, thus giving another negative hit to the businesses affected by the parking charges.”

Rob Danks, owner of Sasha Interiors which is also based on Bridge Street, said the changes have also resulted in logistical complications.

Mr Danks suggested a loading bay and a 15-minute period of free parking to cover drop-offs and collections might improve matters.

However, David Hemming, who runs King Street Kitchen, said it is too early for him to make an assessment.

But he conceded that many of the streets appeared to look ‘pretty empty’ following the introduction of the meters and added: “I think most people are worried that Hereford – the city centre – is ‘dying’ and so then it looks like a funny move to put parking meters in.”

In a statement, the council said it consulted with local businesses on the implementation of on-street

pay and display.

“All residents and businesses in the city’s historic core were sent a survey and the Hereford BID was also invited to respond on behalf of its member businesses,” the statement said.

“We received a variety of representations on the proposals, and as a result of these the proposals were amended to reduce the maximum stay from two hours to one hour to maintain the turnover and availability of parking.

“The cabinet decision to proceed to implement the proposals was taken in August 2017. The decision

report included copies of all representations received from the statutory consultation.”

There have been no changes to loading bay restrictions, the council said, and these remain the same as they were before the scheme was implemented.

“One of the aims of the scheme was to encourage greater use of off-street car parks for longer stays, making it easier for visitors to access spaces for short stays and creating better access to frontages for errands like posting letters or collecting goods,” it added.

“Traffic and parking patterns in the city will continue to be monitored to assist in appraising the effectiveness of the scheme in meeting its objectives.”