Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet has approved a revised pricing structure for on-street parking across Warwickshire.
At its meeting on Thursday 14 December, Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet approved a move to reduce charges for stays less than 15 minutes to on-street pay and display bays (which are located in Leamington, Warwick, Kenilworth, Rugby and the town of Stratford-on-Avon). It is hoped this change – a 10% reduction in charges – will facilitate very short stays in Warwickshire’s town centres for the purposes of dropping off and collecting goods, etc.
However, the County Council has also chosen to increase the parking charges for longer stays to either bring them in line with, or to be higher than, off-street car parking costs. This move is in line with Department for Transport guidance that encourages on-street parking for short-term parking, and off-street car parking - which are often located on the peripheries of town centres - for longer visits.
It is hoped that these changes will minimise on-street congestion caused by vehicles searching for spaces and supports environmental benefits such as increasing air quality in heavily built-up town centre locations.
From 1 March 2024, the following changes will be implemented:
|
Parking Duration |
Existing Pricing |
New Pricing |
Change |
|
15 Minutes |
£0.28 |
£0.25 |
-£0.03 |
|
30 Minutes |
£0.55 |
£0.70 |
£0.15 |
|
1 Hour |
£1.10 |
£1.40 |
£0.30 |
|
1.5 Hours |
£1.65 |
£2.10 |
£0.45 |
|
2 Hours |
£2.20 |
£2.80 |
£0.60 |
Running alongside the pricing structure changes, Cabinet also approved plans to undertake an annual review of the on-street Pay and Display charges that will take into consideration the District and Borough off-street parking pricing structures.
Plans also include the review and standardisation of hours of restriction across all bays address the existing inconsistency and subsequent confusion caused by differing approaches across the Warwickshire.
There will be no change to parking charges in other areas of Warwickshire at this time.
Cllr Jan Matecki, Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Transport and Planning said: “This is the first change to our on-street charging structure since 2018 and is below the rate of inflation for this period. It is being implemented to allow us to realise a range of important benefits for our town centres in South and Central Warwickshire.
“In addition to improving air quality, the changes will support the local economy by encouraging a regular turnover of visitors to town centres with less vehicle congestion making our streets safer and cleaner whilst allowing for shorter (and now slightly cheaper) visits for those just wanting to quickly drop off or collect goods.
“Of course, our ultimate goal is to encourage and enable active travel such as walking or cycling or more environmentally sound alternatives to cars, such as public transport, when visiting our town centres as we pursue our ambitions for a net zero Warwickshire.”
A copy of this Cabinet report is available here: https://democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk/documents/s34429/Proposed%20changes%20to%20on-street%20Pay%20Display%20Parking.pdf
More information about on-street parking fees can be found online: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/onstreetparking