A woman from Beeston has criticised Nottingham City Council for the way they take payments at their heritage sites. The woman claims council run venues such as Wollaton Hall and Newstead Abbey have restrictions over cash payments.
Julie Russell has set up a petition to scrap what she has described as 'card only policy' at the sites. She says that the historic venues stopped taking cash during the pandemic but that they are still insisting on card payments in the car park and shops. The council refuted this, and said cash payments were still accepted.
She said: "I started this petition following a bad customer service experience at Wollaton Hall when I visited there with my baby earlier this month. I was treated like dirt for wanting to pay by cash.
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"It reminded me of the days, quite a few years ago now, when I was a very skint single mum of 3 often down to my last few pounds and my bank card wouldn't even work. I am not in that position now and could have paid by card (having said that, I often forget my pin number!) but I wanted to use the cash that was in my purse. And why not?"
In her petition, Julie outlines the wider issue of having a 'cashless society'. She says not accepting cash "alienates the elderly, discriminates against people without bank accounts, discriminates against people without mobile phones, prevents children from spending pocket/birthday money and removes choice."
She added: "If we let such things happen - where does it end? The poorest in society will be left out if we move towards a cashless society." Nottingham City Council say there is not a card-only policy at their heritage sites and that it is not correct to describe it as such.
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “Our heritage sites were a lifeline for many during the pandemic. Like most venues across the country, we moved towards payment by card or phone as people preferred to make contactless purchases rather than handling money. This was important to keep visitors and staff safe.
“We’ve found that this has largely continued since national restrictions were lifted a couple of months ago. However, we understand that some people want to pay with coins and notes – this is absolutely fine.
“Our sites hold less cash now than previously as more visitors choose to go contactless, so we sometimes ask if a purchase can be made that way or with exact change. But, if not, cash payments are gratefully accepted as a way to support our wonderful heritage sites.”
