CONCERNS have been voiced that completely cashless car parks in Pembrokeshire will isolate older members of society as we emerge from coronavirus restrictions.

Pembrokeshire County Council resolved back in 2019 to make its car parks completely cashless by March this year.

Although the authority's Car Park Working Group favoured a dual payment option in council car parks until at least 2022, cabinet voted to instead introduce a completely cashless by March this year.

A council spokesperson confirmed that the authority is continuing to roll the cashless payment options for Pembrokeshire County Council car parks, with a Pay by Phone option recently added as an alternative.

"Payment by cash is still available," said the spokesperson. "However, this will be phased out, as per cabinet's decision in 2019, once we have resolved some connectivity issues."

Although cashless parking is an attractive option to many, the Post Office reports that there are currently 1.4 million in the UK people not having a bank account and relying on cash to survive.

Age Cymru's chief executive Victoria Lloyd said that many older people still rely heavily on cash with some being completely dependent on it.

“By opting for cashless only car parks, there is a risk that it will become unnecessarily difficult for older people wishing to visit town centres for reasons such as health appointments, shopping or leisure activities. We cannot assume that everyone in our society is willing or able to make all their financial transactions digitally," she said.

"We cannot assume that everyone in our society is willing or able to make all their financial transactions digitally.

"Many older people still rely heavily on cash, with some being completely dependent on it. Some older people do not have a bank account and instead use cash to pay for goods and services. For many on limited incomes, using cash helps them to budget their finances.

"While many older people are comfortable using digital technologies such as a Parking App and have a smart phone that enables them do so, many are less comfortable or don't have a smart phone. It is estimated that more than half of the over 75s in Wales do not use digital technologies.

"As lockdown restrictions ease across Wales we need to be thinking about how we can support older people to re-engage with their communities once more rather than making it more difficult."