PROPOSED new charges for car parking in Kington town centre have been set out after months of controversy over the issue.

Three of the town’s car parks, in Love Lane, High Street and Market Hall Street, currently offer free and unrestricted parking, with only the Mill Street car park charging 50p per hour up to a daily maximum of £2.

But Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member infrastructure and transport Coun John Harrington has been looking to change that.

RELATED NEWS:

The council says that setting such charges “is important to the economic vitality of a town centre”, as it will free up space for short-stay visits by encouraging longer-term parking away from the centre.

Currently, “those that arrive to town first, usually the retail employees, use free parking in the central locations, resulting in later arriving visitors having to find parking further out from the town centre”, the council said.

Parking charges “also provide a mechanism to incentivise other ways that people can travel” such as cycling and walking, the council maintains.

Nor should Kington be uniquely exempted the parking charges applied in other towns, given the £3,000-a-year cost to the council of operating them.

The solution it was proposing is to structure the charges with the most central parking having the highest tariff.

But the council has opted to defer a decision, with documents saying: "Having considered representations received regarding the impact of the proposed charges on the residents and businesses of Kington and the surrounding area, it is appropriate to delay this decision to allow work to be undertaken through the commission of a Transport Study in line with the Economic Investment Plan for Kington, where further detail is to be presented before a final decision is taken."

The council initially uploaded incorrect documents which showed the scheme was recommended for approval.

It was proposed that four town-centre car parks, including Mill Street, would offer 40 minutes of initial free parking if the charges were introduced.

After that, parking charges could be:

  • Mill Street car park will revert to its current tariff, though the cost of season tickets will go up from £60 to £85 per quarter, and from £240 to £315 per year, with a new monthly option costing £35.
  • Market Hall Street will follow the same regime as Mill Street of 50p per hour up to a £2 daily maximum, and will have the same season ticket options.
  • The High Street car park will cost 80p per hour up to a daily maximum of £4, with new season ticket charges set at £65 per month, £170 per quarter, and £630 per year.
  • Cheapest will be Love Lane, where a flat-rate £1 will be payable by phone only. Season tickets here will cost £20 per month, £45 per quarter, and £160 per year.

All parking would remain free on Sundays under the initial proposals.

Warning notices would also be issued to non-paying vehicles for two weeks after the confirmed effective date of the new charges.

The council said it could spend the projected “surplus income” of £22,000 a year from the charges on public transport, road improvements and other public benefits.

OTHER NEWS:

It rejected the option of selling off its car parks – which “would place the supply of car parking for the town centre at risk if these were developed”.