Brighton and Hove council rules out future parking price increase

4:00pm Thursday 19th April 2012 in park the charges

Council chiefs have ruled out increasing parking prices in the centre of Brighton and Hove for the “foreseeable future”.

As it looks to balance the books in the face of Government cuts, Brighton and Hove City Council introduced a raft of changes to parking tariffs on April 1.

The local authority claims it simplifies the system while pushing people towards using more sustainable means of transport and reducing congestion.

But dozens of people have written to The Argus claiming it is damaging business and the city’s reputation as a tourist destination.

Tara Parker, who owns a business in Seven Dials, Brighton, said: “What idiot at the council thought this was a good idea and that it would bring more money into the council’s coffers?

“With all the increases in park- ing charges Brighton will become a ghost town.

“Will the last person to leave please turn the lights off.”

Ian Davey, the local authority’s transport cabinet member, said: “There are currently too many cars in traffic jams or driving around looking for spaces.

“Nobody benefits from the con- gestion or pollution – it’s bad for visitors and bad for business.

“Where there were a myriad of tariffs that have evolved over many years, on-street parking prices have now been simplified into a high tariff zone in central areas and a low tariff zone in outer areas.

“We are reviewing how this works, and may make some adjust- ments to the scheme. It is not our intention to increase prices in the high tariff zone in the foreseeable future.”

The local authority said while it’s more expensive to park on the seafront, prices have been frozen or kept low at the edge of the city centre and the western and eastern ends of the seafront.

It added some car parks, including Black Rock, Regency, London Road, Trafalgar Street and Norton Road, are also cheaper for some tariffs to encourage more people to use them.

Any income to the council from parking is ring-fenced to improve transport in the city, such as funding concessionary bus fares for older people, building cycle lanes or developing 20mph zones.

Comments(35)

Retired Loon in Brighton says...
4:12pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Does this sound a bit like firefighters standing over the flames of the Hindenburg Blimp agreeing that no further petrol was needed for the moment?

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sbiscorrupt says...
4:16pm Thu 19 Apr 12

How long is for 'the forseeable future'?....Until the next April fools day perhaps?

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deve says...
4:26pm Thu 19 Apr 12

What business acts to reduce the number of customers wanting to spend money and visit its its business - Answer - The greens. People will soon get used to not visiting. Every business in Brighton that advertises and spends money on marketing to get more visitors is being countered by the global negative publicity created by the greens.

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Warren Morgan says...
4:31pm Thu 19 Apr 12

When I asked Cllr Davey at full Council last October whether the Green administration were planning "significant" increases in parking charges in the Budget, his answer was "not significant, no".
This pledge should probably be viewed in light of that promise and the subsequent rises in on street, car park, and permit charges.
Labour believes the city council should look again at providing a park and ride service.

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Sussex jim says...
4:38pm Thu 19 Apr 12

The iceberg in the Atlantic in 1912 was not going to get any bigger. It still sunk the Titanic.
These parking charges are going to slowly sink that urban south-west corner of East Sussex known as Brighton and Hove. As I have said before: Brighton is a resort- the last resort!

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graham_Seagull says...
4:48pm Thu 19 Apr 12

All roads north of the City centre up to the Davigdor Road area have the following charges;
£3.50 for 1 hour
£6.00 for 2 hours
£10.00 for 4 hours.

On top of needing to move my car around (as its 18 months for a permit, which I accepted as the charges were already high but manageable over a weekend when I park) it now costs the following for 9.00am - 8.00pm (11 hours);
£10.00 x 2 (to get me 8 hours)
£6.00 (to get me 2 hours)
£3.50 (to get me the last hour)

That adds up to £29.50 for a days parking which I cant afford so I'm having to move to a flat in a different parking zone.

Is this what they had in mind?

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Numptyone says...
4:53pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Well BHCC you certainly are on the make, not only have you increased the prices on the seafront (maderia drive), I also see you have increased the hours, it used to be pay and display 8am - 6pm, well I see you realised you were missing out on a good thing and changed it to 8am - 8pm

Boy don't you just love the Greens, all these parking charges will do is make Brighton a ghost town, I prefer to drive to eastbourne or crawley and spend the money on fuel but know its a more relaxing and better shopping experience.

Actually if I just park a carvan up on the road then it will be free.

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rolivan says...
5:02pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Are the Council going to get all of the money from the increases or are the likes of NCP going to get a share of the extra for doing nothing except whilst counting 5 for me 1 for You.

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rolivan says...
5:05pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Numptyone wrote:
Well BHCC you certainly are on the make, not only have you increased the prices on the seafront (maderia drive), I also see you have increased the hours, it used to be pay and display 8am - 6pm, well I see you realised you were missing out on a good thing and changed it to 8am - 8pm

Boy don't you just love the Greens, all these parking charges will do is make Brighton a ghost town, I prefer to drive to eastbourne or crawley and spend the money on fuel but know its a more relaxing and better shopping experience.

Actually if I just park a carvan up on the road then it will be free.
Public Holidays and Sundays used to be Free but they wanted to annoy visitors with Families as well.

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wexler53 says...
5:10pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Is a vote of no confidence in these nincompoops possible? If so, why aren't Labour and the Conservatives going for it? No one who values this city and its future wants these twerps. Get them out, now.

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Ilyich says...
5:34pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Labour and conservatives aren't "going for it" I expect because if they were in power they would put parking prices up too. And why not? Parking is scarce, too many cars are trying to fit in a limited space. B&H will survive, and if less people come here by car that will be a good thing.

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Fight Back says...
5:45pm Thu 19 Apr 12

graham_Seagull wrote:
All roads north of the City centre up to the Davigdor Road area have the following charges;
£3.50 for 1 hour
£6.00 for 2 hours
£10.00 for 4 hours.

On top of needing to move my car around (as its 18 months for a permit, which I accepted as the charges were already high but manageable over a weekend when I park) it now costs the following for 9.00am - 8.00pm (11 hours);
£10.00 x 2 (to get me 8 hours)
£6.00 (to get me 2 hours)
£3.50 (to get me the last hour)

That adds up to £29.50 for a days parking which I cant afford so I'm having to move to a flat in a different parking zone.

Is this what they had in mind?
Such an ironic post considering your complete defence of the Greens previously. I guess now there policies have hit you personally you now know how the rest if us feel about them ?

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wexler53 says...
5:52pm Thu 19 Apr 12

I dare say the Conservatives and Labour would have put up parking prices, but there's a sensible approach, and then there's the Green approach....

I just hope they can be kicked out before they inflict too much damage...

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NickBtn says...
6:02pm Thu 19 Apr 12

The greens really have no idea of how to run a business - and Brighton has a very important tourist business

The parking charges are too high - tourists are getting the message and will go elsewhere. Even the richer tourists that we could attract are unlikely to park - how many of them will have £10 or £20 in change to feed into parking meters. If the fees are astronomical then a sensible council (or business) would find ways to let people pay by notes or credit card... not by hoping that tourists carry ridiculous amounts of loose change around.....

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Hove Actually says...
6:43pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Council chiefs have ruled out increasing parking prices in the centre of Brighton and Hove for the “foreseeable future”.
Weasel words by a weasel council who haven't got a scooby do how to run a welcoming vibrant city centre........... forget that, who couldn't run a bath!

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kkj says...
6:45pm Thu 19 Apr 12

graham_Seagull wrote:
All roads north of the City centre up to the Davigdor Road area have the following charges;
£3.50 for 1 hour
£6.00 for 2 hours
£10.00 for 4 hours.

On top of needing to move my car around (as its 18 months for a permit, which I accepted as the charges were already high but manageable over a weekend when I park) it now costs the following for 9.00am - 8.00pm (11 hours);
£10.00 x 2 (to get me 8 hours)
£6.00 (to get me 2 hours)
£3.50 (to get me the last hour)

That adds up to £29.50 for a days parking which I cant afford so I'm having to move to a flat in a different parking zone.

Is this what they had in mind?
Try this:

Pay for one-hours parking at £3.50.

When this runs out, you will incur a lower-level contravention penalty charge of £50. Pay within 14 days and its reduced to £25. You save a pound a day and don't have to keep moving your car!

Brilliant.

Or is that not what they had in mind either?

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mimseycal says...
7:09pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Foreseeable future? How long is a piece of string?

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Fight Back says...
7:57pm Thu 19 Apr 12

kkj wrote:
graham_Seagull wrote:
All roads north of the City centre up to the Davigdor Road area have the following charges;
£3.50 for 1 hour
£6.00 for 2 hours
£10.00 for 4 hours.

On top of needing to move my car around (as its 18 months for a permit, which I accepted as the charges were already high but manageable over a weekend when I park) it now costs the following for 9.00am - 8.00pm (11 hours);
£10.00 x 2 (to get me 8 hours)
£6.00 (to get me 2 hours)
£3.50 (to get me the last hour)

That adds up to £29.50 for a days parking which I cant afford so I'm having to move to a flat in a different parking zone.

Is this what they had in mind?
Try this:

Pay for one-hours parking at £3.50.

When this runs out, you will incur a lower-level contravention penalty charge of £50. Pay within 14 days and its reduced to £25. You save a pound a day and don't have to keep moving your car!

Brilliant.

Or is that not what they had in mind either?
Fantastic !!!! This clearly shows Jason Kitcat and his band of merry idiots have absolutely NO idea how to run a city. Please bring on the next local elections where they will get slaughtered !!!!

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minnie&teddy says...
7:57pm Thu 19 Apr 12

what a load of rubbish these GREENS are they will kill Brighton stone dead in no time!!!!

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dubes says...
8:07pm Thu 19 Apr 12

if you want to park for free just come to Hanover short walk to town centre you can park on double yellow lines pavements corners even the entrances of council car parks so no one can get into the car park. nothing is done about breaking the parking laws here .if you cant find a space just double park in grove street .

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HJarrs says...
8:36pm Thu 19 Apr 12

While I understand that parking is one of the few income streams still in council control and that councils all over the country run by the three tory style parties are also doing the same, I think the pricing stratergy for B&H is too severe. Unfortunately, the realpolitik is that too many people judge a council by its parking fees even if they only have to pay a few pounds more that will help save front line services. I believe a rethink on the pricing bands should be considered and some form of discount provided for businesses, if that is not already the case.

I would rather see traffic reduced by a gradual reduction of road space as it becomes handed back to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport rather than pricing off the roads.

Personally, I will continue to walk to the sea front and city centre. I suggest some of the doom mongers discover their legs.

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john5001 says...
8:39pm Thu 19 Apr 12

ha, ha. are they trying to be funny.

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fedupwithgreens says...
11:10pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Probably until they actually realise that most of the bays in the town DO NOT comply with current legislation and are unenforceable in law,.... Then the brown stuff will hit the fan,in the meantime they can all continue to be in 'denial' over this

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fedupwithgreens says...
11:13pm Thu 19 Apr 12

In the meantime no doubt council will be hiding the cheque book incase they have to refund parking tickets ( guildford 2007 £5million)

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fedupwithgreens says...
11:14pm Thu 19 Apr 12

deve wrote:
What business acts to reduce the number of customers wanting to spend money and visit its its business - Answer - The greens. People will soon get used to not visiting. Every business in Brighton that advertises and spends money on marketing to get more visitors is being countered by the global negative publicity created by the greens.
Judging by what people have been saying about the greens looks like there out in next local elections,cant bl oody wait!!! Champagne for everyyyyyyone!!!

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graham_Seagull says...
5:36am Fri 20 Apr 12

Fight Back wrote:
kkj wrote:
graham_Seagull wrote:
All roads north of the City centre up to the Davigdor Road area have the following charges;
£3.50 for 1 hour
£6.00 for 2 hours
£10.00 for 4 hours.

On top of needing to move my car around (as its 18 months for a permit, which I accepted as the charges were already high but manageable over a weekend when I park) it now costs the following for 9.00am - 8.00pm (11 hours);
£10.00 x 2 (to get me 8 hours)
£6.00 (to get me 2 hours)
£3.50 (to get me the last hour)

That adds up to £29.50 for a days parking which I cant afford so I'm having to move to a flat in a different parking zone.

Is this what they had in mind?
Try this:

Pay for one-hours parking at £3.50.

When this runs out, you will incur a lower-level contravention penalty charge of £50. Pay within 14 days and its reduced to £25. You save a pound a day and don't have to keep moving your car!

Brilliant.

Or is that not what they had in mind either?
Fantastic !!!! This clearly shows Jason Kitcat and his band of merry idiots have absolutely NO idea how to run a city. Please bring on the next local elections where they will get slaughtered !!!!
The parking fine has gone up as well to £35 :-(

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graham_Seagull says...
5:43am Fri 20 Apr 12

Fight Back wrote:
graham_Seagull wrote:
All roads north of the City centre up to the Davigdor Road area have the following charges;
£3.50 for 1 hour
£6.00 for 2 hours
£10.00 for 4 hours.

On top of needing to move my car around (as its 18 months for a permit, which I accepted as the charges were already high but manageable over a weekend when I park) it now costs the following for 9.00am - 8.00pm (11 hours);
£10.00 x 2 (to get me 8 hours)
£6.00 (to get me 2 hours)
£3.50 (to get me the last hour)

That adds up to £29.50 for a days parking which I cant afford so I'm having to move to a flat in a different parking zone.

Is this what they had in mind?
Such an ironic post considering your complete defence of the Greens previously. I guess now there policies have hit you personally you now know how the rest if us feel about them ?
We do need to move from a carbon based economy to a renewables based, and I support the Greens on that score. I also support them on many other items such as better cycling facilities, protecting decent front line services.
But they have win around and keep the voters on side to achieve those things, and keep the tourists coming to town.
Putting parking up by such a huge hike is a step too far too soon, particularly when so many local traders are struggling.

We're all in a tricky position...labour are busted flush, Tories are simply poisonous, now greens are being daft....monster raving loonies?

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HJarrs says...
8:08am Fri 20 Apr 12

fedupwithgreens wrote:
deve wrote:
What business acts to reduce the number of customers wanting to spend money and visit its its business - Answer - The greens. People will soon get used to not visiting. Every business in Brighton that advertises and spends money on marketing to get more visitors is being countered by the global negative publicity created by the greens.
Judging by what people have been saying about the greens looks like there out in next local elections,cant bl oody wait!!! Champagne for everyyyyyyone!!!
Yes pop the champagne for lacklustre Labour and the nasty Tory party, as if they would do any different. Let us not forget that areas such as parking are being squeezed and more cuts made due to the voting down of a modest council tax rise.

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salty_pete says...
8:12am Fri 20 Apr 12

Lets not forget why these parking charges are here in the first place. Soon after Labour won in '97 Gordon Brown wanted to reduce the local council grant, so he passed legislation to allow councils to keep revenue from parking charges. So the local grant was slashed to pay for things like New Deal and councils were expected to increase their take from parking charges to make up the difference, about £6m for BHCC. But I don't think this legislation was ever intended for the Greens to take the p:ss out of the motorists.

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mimseycal says...
8:35am Fri 20 Apr 12

BHCC is just acting the way many authorities, especially central government, are.
Residents, visitors within its boundaries ... we are all just 'milk cows' and if they feel the need for some more revenue ... they just come back to the milking parlour.

The only difference between the Greens, Labour or Conservatives is which 'herd' they target for preference.

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Joshiman says...
9:16am Fri 20 Apr 12

Bit late.Whoever thought of increasing parking charges should be sacked.I must admit when I see all the empty parking spaces along Madeira drive and Kingsway I have a good laugh.Vey soon all the campers will descend and will ignore the fines/parking tickets as they can never be traced.Follow Worthing/Eastbourne etc..B&H Council have lost the plot re parking.

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Midnightrunner says...
10:06am Fri 20 Apr 12

Iv just realized that the £20 per day parking charges on Madeira Drive drop to only £5 per day on the east side of the old lift.
Now rumour for this huge change is so that “Yellow Wave” the volley ball courts that are heavily subsidised by B,ton Council don’t suffer.
What about all this other shops and cafes at the west end of Madeira Dr that pay huge rents to the Council

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The Real Phil says...
6:37pm Fri 20 Apr 12

dubes wrote:
if you want to park for free just come to Hanover short walk to town centre you can park on double yellow lines pavements corners even the entrances of council car parks so no one can get into the car park. nothing is done about breaking the parking laws here .if you cant find a space just double park in grove street .
Or when there is a big event on such as big beach boutique the hiss peads have been known to treble park in Hanover.

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
9:51am Sun 22 Apr 12

My mate has severe arthritis and cannot walk long distances. He does not have a blue badge as he tries to get along as best he can.
I would usually walk to the duke of York picture house or cycle.
However I picked him up in my car and dropped him outside.
I attempted to park in the cold and wet and deserted new England road opposite the scrap metal place which used to be free after 6. But what a shocker. £7 for two hours in an empty bay in a street with no shops. I refused to pay and we drove to the marina cinema with free parking.
Why not charge a quid or two for a late night, but £7 in a crappy empty street.
Lost revenue and a poorly thought out policy which will
Murder small trade in these areas.

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0nthec0ast says...
9:57pm Tue 24 Apr 12

What I found interesting in the article was "Any income to the council from parking is ring-fenced to improve transport in the city, such as funding concessionary bus fares for older people, building cycle lanes or developing 20mph zones."

Well. That's all right then!

I would be interested to know how much goes to support concessionary fares. I thought the Government largely subsidised those.

And why didn't the Tories and Labour vote against the proposals if they didn't approve? Or didn't they get the opportunity?

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