Drivers in the South East are set to see parking charges in all council-owned car parks rapidly increase as a local authority looks to recover millions.
Runnymede Borough Council in Addlestone warned that it may be forced to increase car park fees after a report revealed a desperate need to reduce day-to-day spending by £4.1million.
The changes could come into effect in April 2025 but the council did note that while it does have to make adjust fees and bring in some new charges it will do “everything we can to keep these as low as possible”.
The changes were set out in a report earlier this month which compared parking prices with neighbouring boroughs in Surrey.
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Council has introduced annual increases parking permits for the borough
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A Council spokesperson said: “We’ve lost nearly £160,000 in parking income since the pandemic because of changing driving habits, without closing a single car park we own.
“We don’t intend to close any locations and no-one wants to increase charges, but we have to take difficult decisions to balance our books.
“We’re on a journey to making sure the fees paid by motorists who choose to use our car parks actually meet the future cost of running our parking service. These increases are absolutely not about making a profit, but we must continue to cover our costs.”
Under the new plans for drivers, town centre car parks will see costs go up by 10p an hour while out-of-town facilities will see a 5p hike in hourly rates.
However, car parks for outdoor facilities, such as parks and cemeteries, will still be able to benefit from three hours of free parking before a flat rate fee of £2.80 is introduced after this time limit.
The council added: “We’re setting up a new process to allow free parking for some community events. We already allow free parking locally for four events and earlier this month we allowed free parking across all Council car parks for Remembrance Sunday.
“To be fair to all drivers, we are putting in place arrangements so all motorists using our car parks pay something towards the costs of our parking service, rather than the burden falling on people using the fee paying locations.”
It stated that overnight and evening parking charges will be introduced with fees of £2 and £3 respectively.
The spokesperson added that these charges are likely to be a “tiny percentage” of overall costs for people, but they will serve “important purposes”.
But drivers who use the car parks will end up paying more towards the operational fees for the facilities including maintenance and repairs, signage, lighting and CCTV.
Price hikes will also cover costs for administrative staff, parking wardens and their vehicles, ticket machines and other equipment, and new systems to make parking easier for people, like ANPR.
As well as pay and display charges, there will be an annual increase in permits, but the council added that it will review permit options to “enhance flexibility, affordability, and choice”.
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New parking charges to help reduce council day-to-day spending
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Councillor Scott Lewis shared his fury over the parking hikes warning that the charges will affect the “elderly and young, plus our high street”.
He said: “My amendment to increase to four hours free from three was denied. This will directly impact parents and children in the Borough as they are both a youth and adult football club.
“Shannon Saise-Marshall and myself tried to get the charges reduced around Libraries in Chertsey, Addlestone, VW etc to help those that use and had to use public car parks – denied yet they pushed through the single one in Egham.”