In July 2020, Councillor John Harrington authorised a review of car parking charges in order to address some feedback received about parking in the Covid-19 recovery.
Concerns have been raised for several years over the cost of parking in Herefordshire and in particular, the cost to park in the centre of Hereford.
8 months on, the Herefordshire Conservatives are claiming that Herefordshire Council is ‘set to increase parking charges and cut the number of parking places’. It must be noted that these are the words of the Herefordshire Conservatives and not those of Your Herefordshire.
When the car parking charges consultation was launched in July, Cllr Harrington recognised that Herefordshire’s parking charges needed to be reviewed to make them more fluid and varied based on why people were making their trips. A more detailed review is expected to take place.
One idea was to breakdown parking charges into separate categories such as:
Work & Stay – “Long stay parking for commuters, day or overnight visitors”
Eat & Visit – “Central parking for workers and visitors”
Stop to Shop – “Convenient parking for short stay visits”
Many business owners will be hoping that parking incentives are put in place to tempt people back to our high streets when lockdown is eased from April, but with funding drastically cut, it may be difficult for Herefordshire Council to defer any potential increase in parking charges.
There is no doubt that concessions such as free parking every day from 8pm will potentially help the hospitality sector as it bounces back and free on street parking on a Sunday, alongside a maximum charge on a Sunday of 3 hours parking in Hereford and free parking in our market towns, will hopefully provide a tourism boost as we head into the summer.
More details can be found by visiting – Car parking charges consultation 2020 (herefordshire.gov.uk)
