The thorny subject of parking has again reared its ugly head in the Jewellery Quarter but for a new reason, the state of the pay and display meters. Many people in the area are very unhappy that the machines have been vandalised and no longer work, forcing people to pay via the mobile phone app which they say makes parking a lot more expensive.
The current machines I believe were not new in the first place, but from another area of Birmingham, and always looked slightly tatty, but now are a total eyesore in the JQ Conservation Area, covered in red/white tape and out of order notices.
More modern Pay and Display machines are needed, especially if they can accept credit/debit cards which may alleviate the problems of vandalism as the incentive to smash the machines to pieces to steal the cash would be less tempting. Plus, the added convenience of parkers who would not have to search around for change all the time, especially as a growing number of people do not carry cash around these days.
Mark
