A 99-year-old car dealership is planning to contest Buckinghamshire Council’s ownership of a square of land in Marlow where unpopular parking charges have just been enforced.

New parking restrictions on Quoiting Square, between Oxford Road and Marlow Road, were approved by the council in July.

And as of September 18, permit and payment parking applies at the site seven days a week between 7am and 7pm, with a maximum 24-hour stay, no return within 11 hours and no waiting at any time.

While the council claims that the charges are necessary to improve vehicle turnover and maintain parking infrastructure in the town, a third-generation car dealership that was founded nearly 100 years ago is planning to contest ownership of the land – which it has used to conduct business for over 20 years.

Tim Platt, managing director of Platts of Marlow, said the spot has been “adopted as a highway” by the council despite two decades of use “entitling” the business to it – and expressed disappointment over the roll-out of the restrictions this week, with “confusing” signage indicating a sole payment method of ‘checking the signs in another car park’.

(Image: Ah Fai Fai)

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He added: “We thought they’d relay the tarmac or do something in preparation for it, but there’s been nothing. They just put the poles up at the weekend and the signs went up on Tuesday.

“The way it worked before wasn’t perfect, it was a bit of a free-for-all, but we’d come to an understanding with locals. Now it feels like the council has ignored the issues so they can push this scheme through quickly.”

Among those who clashed with the plans during the proposal stage was Conservative town councillor Neil Marshall, who said they had provoked “very high levels of negative” feeling among locals and also pointed to ongoing “issues (about) defining the ownership line between Buckinghamshire Highways and Platts Garage”.

Jim Platt, 89, whose father founded the dealership in 1925, previously told the Free Press that he believed locals accustomed to parking in the square would find it “extremely difficult” to adjust and could be “displaced” by the measures.

Despite this, Steven Broadbent, the council’s cabinet member for transport, described the restrictions as a way to “protect parking space for residents, local businesses and the High Street”.

And during the cabinet meeting where the charges were approved, council leader Martin Tett said parking was an important service the council had to provide “while still balancing its budget”.

He said: “Social media is awash with, ‘The evil council, why are they doing this? They are all crazy, they are all corrupt’ – the usual stuff. Everybody wants everything for free.

“If you go on social media, it’s like everybody would like every car park free all the time and nobody has to pay for anything. The reality of life just isn’t like that.”