The cost of evening parking at Bath’s Charlotte Street car park is to be cut by more than 70%, Bath and North East Somerset’s Conservative leadership has announced.
From the 7th December, a new flat rate of £1.50 will be introduced for the 6pm-8pm period at the car park, after which parking is free until 8am the following morning.
Currently, anybody who uses the car park between 6pm and 8pm has to fork out £5.40, which is the minimum cost of a daytime ticket at the car park.
The introduction of a cheaper evening tariff at the car park reverses a price hike introduced by the Council’s previous Liberal Democrat administration in 2013, and fulfils a key commitment by Conservatives, who made a promise before May’s local elections to review the Council’s most expensive parking charges and protect the free community car parks that currently exist throughout the district.
Councillor Anthony Clarke (Cons, Lansdown), the Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “The changes we’re putting in place at Charlotte Street car park will see evening charges cut by more than seventy per cent, down from a current cost of £5.40 to just £1.50 from 6pm onwards.
“The hike in the cost of evening parking introduced by the Liberal Democrats proved counter-productive, reducing the number of cars using Charlotte Street after 6pm and thereby impacting upon the revenue raised.
“We also believe the Council has a responsibility to do what it can, within budget, to support local businesses, including the shops, bars and restaurants that are a crucial part of Bath’s evening economy.
“We were therefore keen to get this lower-price evening parking rate in place before the main festive period starts.”
Conservative Leader of B&NES Council, Cllr Tim Warren, added: “Reducing the cost of evening parking at Charlotte Street was one of our key commitments at the elections in May, alongside our promise to protect the free parking that currently exists in the Council’s community car parks throughout the district.
“We also promised to reintroduce a period of free short-stay parking at Bath’s Royal Victoria Park. This is something we remain committed to delivering and hope to be able to bring forward plans for this in the near future.”
