New parking changes to come into effect

New changes to parking arrangements will come into effect at Cheshire East car parks on 26 May. 

The decision comes following an extended six-week statutory consultation last year conducted by Cheshire East Council on proposals to introduce evening and Sunday parking charges. 

There were 1141 valid responses to the consultation of which 96% were objections to the proposed charges. Impacts on town centre vitality were overwhelmingly the most frequently cited concern in the valid representations received. Feedback suggested that evening and Sunday charges could make some towns less attractive and encourage people to travel elsewhere for their business or use on-line shopping with a detrimental effect on town centre businesses. Increased social isolation was also a concern as the extra cost may impact community groups and charities with attendance being affected.

With the options considered the following principles are to be applied:

a) Evening charges to be introduced only where there is a vibrant “night-time economy” that leads to demand for Council car parks.

b) Sunday charges to be introduced only where there is evidence of demand for parking related to town centre and visitor attractions on Sundays.

c) Sunday charges to be £2 fixed daily charge instead of the standard MondaySaturday tariffs. 

The changes at council-operated car parks from 26^th May will include:

Parking charges will be extended by four hours to cover the period 8am-10pm. 

Parking charges will apply on Sundays – based on the weekday tariffs for each car park.

A new tariff band will be introduced that will allow motorists to purchase parking for up to 14 hours. 

There will be an increase in some parking charges and permits, which reflects the tariffs charged by similar councils. As an example, low tariff bands will see an increase of 10 pence per hour.

The council’s ‘free after 3pm’ initiative will remain in operation at one car park in each of Cheshire East’s towns and villages. At these specific car parks, ‘free after 3pm’ also applies on Sundays. 

Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, said: “When benchmarked against neighbouring councils, it is clear that our current parking charges are significantly lower. Nor do they reflect inflation as this is also only the second time parking charges have been increased since Cheshire East was formed in 2009. 

“Coupled with the council’s financial challenges, we have little option but to look at how we maximise our income and ensure that the charges we collect are sufficient to help cover the rising costs of maintaining, managing, and enforcing our car parks. Any surplus from parking charges is money that can be used to support other services that fall under the highways and transport committee, for example roads maintenance or Sunday and evening bus services.” 

Cllr Goldsmith added: “I am pleased that the council’s ‘free after 3pm’ initiative remains in operation at one car park in each of our towns and villages, which we know is a popular initiative with residents and shoppers. 

Additional Sunday and evening bus services are also being introduced from 31 March as part of the council’s bus service improvement plans.” 

Full details of the changes will be available via the Cheshire East website and will be publicised in the car parks.