Approximately fifty members of the public and representatives of local organisations attended the meeting as they wished to speak about the proposed changes to car parking charges on the Isle of Sheppey.

The following comments were made:

·         A lot of pensioners visited the Little Oysters Tea Room, Minster-on-Sea, and stayed all day, if they had to pay £1.40 per hour to park they would not come;

·         how could Swale Borough Council (SBC) justify charging £1.40 per hour to park for activities such as taking children to the beach, people visiting their beach huts, families visiting memorial benches, pensioners wanting a cup of tea and a chat, people wanting to get out to exercise, dog walkers and volunteers cleaning the beach for the benefit of everyone?;

·         the Isle of Sheppey Sailing Club would be affected by the introduction of charges at the Ship on Shore Car Park. The Club provided training for young people, college groups and they hosted major events. Many of their members visited the Club twice a week. The Club would be crushed by the proposals. Queenborough Sailing Club would be affected in the same way;

·         people who regularly volunteered to provide training would have to pay to park;

·         locals should be exempt from parking charges;

·         some of double yellow lines in Queenborough had caused problems such as being marked out in front of garages and houses;

·         people would not want to pay to attend activities such as the bereavement service at Castle Connections, Queenborough. If attendance dropped the centre might end up closing;

·         people would start to park on streets to avoid charges, this would cause congestion and conflict;

·         people felt that they were being charged to raise money for other parts of the Borough of Swale;

·         pensioners living on their own who were unable to walk far would have to pay for parking when visiting the Leas, Minster-on-Sea;

·         pensioners living alone needed to get out;

·         there were double yellow lines outside the Hopyard Centre, Queenborough for people with learning difficulties. It was not possible to drop off and pick up people who visited the centre;

·         there was so much going on in Queenborough, the proposals would kill the community;

·         there were families with very little who would not be able to afford to attend activities on the beach;

·         Queenborough library would suffer, staff and volunteers who worked 4-hour shifts would have to pay;

·         Queenborough was one of the poorest towns in the country.

·         the frontage of some terraced houses was not wide enough for a car to park outside;

·         Queenborough regeneration would fail;

·         the beach should be free for all to use;

·         SBC should talk to South Eastern Railway about turning the piece of land by Queenborough station into a car park;

·         bus services finished mid-afternoon. Train services should return to a half-hourly timetable;

·         seaside businesses would be destroyed;

·         it felt like SBC did not care about the Isle of Sheppey;

·         people from outside the Borough did voluntary litter-picking, if they stopped due to having to pay to park, then the beaches could become littered; and

·         the funding raised from car parking charges should not be used to bridge a funding gap.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending the meeting and said he would take the comments raised to the Council meeting on 21 February 2024.