Pay and Display: Free Sunday parking to be scrapped and prices to go up across Preston under new proposals

On-street charges are regularly reviewed by Lancashire County Council, and following the latest review, the council wants each tariff band to be increased to maintain the gap over car park charges.

What’s proposed?

The biggest change is that proposals have been put forward to introduce on-street parking charges on Sundays.

On-street pay-and-display charges typically do not apply on Sundays and this is due to it historically being quieter than the other days of the week.

But LCC say this has not been the case for many years, with Sunday becoming increasingly one of the busiest days of the week.

In addition to Sunday charges, it is being introduce Pay and Display bays on Garden Street, Winckley Square West and Guildhall Street, along with making the limited waiting on Cross Street and part of Camden Place pay and display to bring it into line with the rest of the city parking offer.

What about residents?

Changes are also being proposed to support residents who live in the city.

Residents' parking permit schemes have been overhauled to protect the existing residents from new builds or property conversions, which can result in hundreds of permits appearing. LCC say that residents have requested that some little-used pay and display bays be converted to permit bays, which the council is now undertaking.

Why do it?

LCC say the proposals aim to better manage the network, support the flow of people in the city, encourage other forms of active travel and encourage more people to use the city car parks.

Limited on-street parking is available and these spaces are in key city centre locations, therefore attracting high demand by the public.

As such, the council wants to ensure that the on-street charges exceed the off-street charges to encourage use of the car parks.

County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for highways and transport, Lancashire County Council, said: "These proposed changes will allow us to manage the road network more effectively and encourage more people to use the cheaper car parks.

"The introduction of on-street parking charges on a Sunday will contribute to this effort and will support the flow of customers in the city on what is often the second busiest day of the week.

"We've also listened to the needs of city centre residents and have proposed changes that maintain the delicate balance of permits vs spaces that currently exists."

Have your say

All the new proposals are part of a formal consultation that started on the January 19 and runs until February 17.

A copy of the draft Order may be inspected during normal office hours at County Hall, Preston, and can also be viewed on Lancashire County Council's website: http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/roads/roadworks-and-traffic-regulation-orders/permanent.aspx.

Any representations or objections (specifying the grounds on which they are made) relating to the proposal must be made in writing and should be sent to The Director of Corporate Services, Lancashire County Council, P O Box 100, County Hall, Preston PR1 0LD or by e-mail to [email protected] quoting the relevant reference before February 17, 2023.