Customer review of the Southend Pass, parking permit (pay monthly)
A customer who uses the Southend Pass regularly has sent us a review and agreed for it to be published.
We are sharing it in its entirety, unedited, as a transparent reflection of how it is to use it, and the sorts of parking it can really help.
The team is continuously monitoring its performance and MOBON are making technical improvements to ensure any issues are fixed as soon as possible.
Full info on costs and how to download and buy a monthly pass is available at www.southend.gov.uk/southendpass
The review:
HM said: "I like the pass because it means I can pull up into any of the council car parks and not have to go to the parking meter, not have to type in my registration, not have to look for coins of the right value and of course, it's a lot cheaper. I'm a carer for the elderly and a dog walker by profession, so this is perfect for me.
"I pretty much use it every single day, starting early in the morning. After I've dropped my son to school I sometimes stop at Fairheads Green/Sealife Centre car park (1 hour) for a nice (very quick) run along the beach. I then care for my mother in law then meet a friend at Uncle Tom's (1 hour) for a power walk and chat. I then care for another lady who lives at East Beach (2 hours), then I collect the dogs and head down to Thorpe Esplanade Bays (1 hour). I might pop into the town centre car parks (2 hours) before meeting my son. I often take the children to the new park at Shoebury Common where I use the pass again.
"At the weekend I take my boys to the seafront and Warrior Square skate park, so I use the pass then too.
"It has indeed saved me loads of money and time. Looking on my Mobon app before the pass was brought out, I would spend lots of money on parking or I'd try to find somewhere in a residential street, which is hard and not fair on the residents. If I wanted to go to town, I used to park in Sainsbury's for 2 hours, rush round to do what I needed and spend £5 in the shop to claim back parking or go by train. It has actually encouraged me to use Southend's tourist areas more as I know I can park easily, although on a hot day, there's nowhere left to park anyway so I avoid the seafront!
"Yes, it's much easier than using the machine.
"The app is easier but I do have a few problems with it, sometimes it doesn't work so I have no other option than to uninstall it then reinstall it but I'm used to that now, lucky I have plenty of mobile data and I allow extra time."