Park and ride fares to increase in Canterbury

Shoppers using Park and Ride buses to avoid congestion in Canterbury could soon have to pay £3 per car. Councillors are considering increasing the charge from £2.50 as part of a review of parking charges across the district.

Fees in the Kingsmead Leisure Centre car park would also increase to £3 from £1 in a bid to deter people who are not using the centre from parking there. Those who are can have the cost refunded.

Holman's Meadow car park would cost £1.30 per hour Sunday to Friday and £1.50 per hour on Saturdays, up from £1.10 all week, if proposals to list it as a "premium" car park are approved.

And the cost of permits for residents and businesses would also increase by about 10 per cent. Canterbury City Council's transportation manager Richard Jenkins said:

"The cost of parking at Park and Ride sites has not increased since 2008 and since this time significant increases in the cost of fuel have contributed to the increasing cost of running the bus service. The costs of maintenance of the car parks and equipment has also increased. The parking policy is to encourage all-day parking at Park and Ride sites rather than city centre car parks and even with this increase it is significantly cheaper to park all day at Park and Ride sites, particularly as Canterbury is one of the few authorities to charge per vehicle rather than per person."

In Whitstable, most car park charges would increase by 10p per hour. The maximum charge in the Gorrell Tank car park would be abolished and fees in the swimming pool car park would be unchanged. A 10p per hour increase is also proposed for most Herne Bay car parks.

But there was good news for shoppers in Faversham after Swale Borough Council's cabinet agreed to freeze the short-term parking charges at 80p for the first hour, £1.50 for up to two hours and £3 for up to four hours.

Councillor Duncan Dewar-Whalley, cabinet member for finance, said:

"Fees are bridging the gap between what the council wants to spend and what central government provides."

HB Times 7th Jan 2013