The temporary suspension of 10-hour parking on the East Arm from the start of January has had an impact on short-term parking spaces in the main North Beach car park.
East Arm parking was removed at the start of January to allow boats to be stored there while significant upgrades are carried out to pontoons in the QEII Marina.
More than 100 North Beach three-hour parking spaces have been changed to 10-hour as a result of the work, which is expected to last for several more weeks.
The Guernsey Press visited North Beach, Odeon, Crown Pier and Albert Pier car parks at a lunchtime, and found almost all bays occupied in each car park, except for the arm of Albert Pier.
Several cars were also seen circling at each, waiting for a space to become available.
Cathy Seabrook, who had managed to find a space in North Beach, said that it was a question of getting lucky and passing by a space as someone was pulling out.
‘At the moment you’re lucky to find one space in among all the parked cars when usually there wouldn’t be a problem,' she said. 'You’ve just ended up getting a lot of people driving round.
‘Fortunately I have time to keep circling, but I feel sorry for people who are in more of a rush.’
Sue Dickinson, who was accompanying Mrs Seabrook, said that she rarely drove into Town due to not wanting to contend with how busy the traffic was.
‘When I have driven in recently I have definitely noticed fewer spaces available,’ she said.
In Odeon car park, Mustapha Fre, who lives nearby, said that it was impossible to find a spot in the mornings, with every 10-hour space occupied by 8am.
‘As the day goes on it gets easier, it’s busy most of the time anyway cause of people needing a space for work, but recently people are here before 7am.’
Businesses along the seafront said that the parking situation was not impacting the number of customers visiting their shops.
However, Theo Hamilton, co-owner of clothes retailer Seahorse, said he had started opening the shop later because of the struggled to find a parking space.
‘We open at 9 normally, but even if I get into Town at 7am I can’t guarantee that I’ll get a 10-hour spot. Sometimes I’ve had to park in a two-hour space and go then go back and find another spot later in the morning,’ he said.
‘I’d say we’ve seen a small decrease in customer numbers but it’s not impacted us a huge amount, the bigger impact has been on staff.’
Celaro shoe shop owner Allison Forman also said customer impact had been minimal.
‘No one seems to be rushing back to their cars because they haven’t found a long enough space.
‘I do feel sorry for those with an urgent appointment who can’t find somewhere to park, though.’
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