Of parking clocks and parking discs

Much of the discussion in Sidmouth around people and shopping, the high street and cars revolves around 'parking':
Parking threatens quality businesses - shop owner - News - Sidmouth Herald
Sidmouth’s Mill Street car park to become ‘public’ on Monday - News - Sidmouth Herald
Sidmouth business leaders welcome cheaper winter parking - News - Exmouth Journal

There are some ideas out there:
Futures Forum: Sidmouth parking issues @ Streetlife
Hugo Swire's multi-storey 'big vision' for Sidmouth | Hugo Swire

In the New Forest:

Parking Clocks
Charges apply in most of the Council's town and village car parks. In order to help motorists (particularly residents and those who work in our towns/villages) the council operates a clock parking scheme.

The display of a correctly set valid clock, will allow motorists to park in the relevant NFDC car parks without incurring a further charge. Holders of the clock are subject to the waiting restrictions which apply in NFDC car parks. Motorists who do not wish to purchase a clock can pay at the ticket machine or pay by mobile phone.

Parking Clocks - New Forest District Council

And on the Continent:

Parking 
All cars in Denmark need to display a parking disc on your dashboard. A car hired in Denmark will be equipped with one. If you are driving a foreign car you may purchase a parking disk from banks, gas stations and tourist offices. Parking discs are used in parking areas which do not require a parking fee. A parking disc is simply a clock which you set the time you arrived in the parking lot. There will be signs in the parking lot letting you know how long you have until you need to move your car.

Driving A Car In Denmark

Disc parking is a system of allowing time-restricted free parking through display of a parking disc or clock disc showing the time at which the vehicle was parked. A patrolling parking attendant can inspect the disc to check whether payment is owed. The system is common in Europe.

The original system had been introduced along with establishing a Blue Zone area. The blue zones in the city centers allow for free parking of about 2 hours by using a parking disc issued by the city while other parking zones may have stricter control by parking meters. The current unified EU parking disc regulations allow for a wider range of time restrictions that are indicated on the signs.

Disc parking - Wikipedia
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