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Councillor provides clarity over McDonald’s parking issues
Mark Swinburn, Town and County Councillor for the Cramlington Village Ward, received a number of concerns and complaints from residents who had visited McDonald’s in Cramlington and subsequently received a parking fine due to recently imposed parking restrictions.
This had annoyed the residents with many stating that they would avoid visiting Cramlington as a result.
Mark contacted McDonald’s and following a meeting with company representatives a number of issues have now been resolved.
At the meeting the McDonald’s managers explained that they had to introduce parking restrictions at five sites due to issues with the limited parking spaces they have. Problems in Cramlington included people parking all day to use the railway station and workers parking to access nearby retail areas, therefore significantly limiting the availability to McDonald’s own customers.
Cllr Swinburn also explained that matters had not been helped because different information had been given out when members of the public were trying to deal with their fines. McDonald’s took on board this feedback and said they would try to ensure that consistent information was given across all of the affected sites.
If, however, a customer receives a fine at a later date and believes that this is incorrect they should NOT ignore this. They should appeal to the parking company in the first instance providing a clear explanation. If this is unsuccessful and they still believe that their fine was incorrect then they can speak to the store management who can then raise the matter with their franchise supervisor. There is no guarantee that any fine will be waived but each case will then be reviewed on an individual basis by the company themselves. Any overturned fines are at a cost to McDonald’s and all evidence is carefully reviewed before any decision is made. McDonald’s do not make any revenue from the fines imposed in the parking areas.
Cllr Swinburn said “I am pleased that the McDonald’s franchise owner and supervisor met with me to discuss these issues so that we could look at ways to help deal with residents’ concerns and discuss ways to move forward. I would urge anyone with issues to contact the restaurant and to discuss them with management.
I hope that this clarity over the issues helps the residents and also allows the business to continue successfully in the town.”
