Council confirms changes to parking charges from 1 September

Following a public consultation, Wiltshire Council has confirmed changes to some parking charges in the county will begin from 1 September.

The changes will see an extra 10p per hour per tariff added to all car parking charges in Wiltshire Council car parks; an inflationary increase to car park season tickets; the introduction of charges for Blue Badge holders in all council car parks; and the introduction of charging at Castle Combe car park.

The changes were agreed by the council in February, as part of the budget-making process for the financial year 2022/23. The fees have been changed to better reflect current inflation levels and in response to some rising operational costs.

As part of the consultation process for these changes, the council received 389 responses from members of the public, and after considering these responses, the final decision was then made by Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport.

At a time of acute cost of living crisis and spiralling inflation, Wiltshire Council may find the increases detract from residents parking in the town centres. It would be good to see quarterly figures for the revenue raised and whether the footfall has increased, remained the same of decreased as families increasingly look to make cost savings.

To find out more about the decision, people can go to: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1864

To find out more about parking charges in Wiltshire, people should go to: www.wiltshire.gov.uk/parking