AS a resident living close to the town centre why wont the council issue resident only parking to roads close to town as we have to park the other side of town and we live here . surely it would encourage shoppers to use busses or the pay and display car park located at the leisure centre .

Hi TheGreenman, This is an interesting proposal, but I am afraid I have to disagree with you. The rest of Exmouth's residents also have a right to park nearby in one of the town car parks without paying exorbitant fees. I live a couple of miles from the town centre, like a large majority of Exmouth's residents, and if we had to pay huge car parking fees or travel out of town to a car park only to travel back in again on a bus, it would be very unfair to most of us, just as expensive in fuel, and not in the least any more 'Green' or environmentally friendly. What is so good about digging up green fields in our lovely surrounding countryside and concreting them down as car parks? Why would a journey out of town in the car, back into town on a bus, back to a car park on a bus, and home in a car again be any more green?
If anything I think it would throttle the life out of the town, rather than bring in more visitors. The businesses in Exmouth are greatly helped by the convenience of the town centre car parks. Most residents only pop in for an hour or less, and with the extra time it would take you might as well keep driving out of town, past your proposed car park, and keep on going into Exeter. I don’t believe Exmouth is big enough to warrant out of town parking, only to leave the town centre car parks expensively empty.
I understand the frustration and nuisance you experience, not being able to park near to your house, I was in a similar situation a few years back. This is the price to pay for living in the town centre, where you can easily walk to the shops, unlike I and many others. The latest town centre developments have no doubt caused you more parking problems, as it has for all of us.
Also it is not just down to visitors and other town users parking outside your house. Most households have 2 cars these days, the Victorian town houses that make up the majority of the town centre dwellings, just don't have the space outside for 2 cars each.
Perhaps there should be a restriction put on town centre dwellings to have only 1 car each, rather than penalise the rest of Exmouth residents and businesses with high charges and inconvenient and time consuming parking?
I have no problem with resident parking permits, that is probably a good idea and would help you and ‘chrisvictoria’ park outside your homes, but it would still probably need to be restricted to just one car per house as there is just not enough space in most streets for any more than that. As for the rest of us, we all pay our council tax, and have a right to fair priced town centre parking, not just parking for the few who don't need to drive into town, as they already live there.
I have never parked outside anyone’s house when I drive into town; I always use the car parks or allocated parking spaces. I would be interested to know if anyone else regularly parks on the side streets outside people’s houses, or do they use the proper car parks and other allocated parking spaces?

Clearly, judging from ComputaRight's considered comments, my proposal for out of town parking in Exmouth has some holes in it. But at least we're on the right road, discussing it, and trying to find a solution. My frustration is that the parking problem in the town centre seems to be getting worse, and no one is tackling it.
And interesting to hear from Robin Smith about the parking problems in North Tyneside. Worth a look, I'd say. Keep the comments coming....