Price hike for one of Preston's main city centre car parks

Pay-and-display charges and fees for pre-paid permits will all be hiked by Lancashire County Council, which operates the multi-storey facility.

The move will push the price of a four-hour stay from £3.20 currently to £3.90, while an annual permit will leap from £670 to £800.

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County Hall says the charges are reviewed each year “to ensure they achieve full cost recovery” and offer a rate that is “in line with other car parks within the city centre”.

“These changes will help to meet the cost of continuing to provide dedicated public car parking within the city centre,” the authority explained in a notice setting out the reasons for the price rises. A start date for the new tariffs has not yet been confirmed.

Preston’s nearby new Arc Cinema, which opens on 21st February, will be offering free parking to its guests.

Meanwhile, in a reconfiguration of some of the 600 spaces within the 24-hour bus station car park, the number of bays for disabled blue badge-holders is to more than double – from 16 to 37.

The county council says 11 of the dedicated spaces will be on level 1 and 13 on level 2 – an increase of four across each of those storeys – while 13 new disabled bays will be introduced on level 4.

There will be no change to the three-hour free parking entitlement for users with a blue badge – with any parking over that time being charged at the full rate. A ban on returning to a free disabled parking space within eight hours of leaving will, however, be introduced.

Twenty parent-and-child bays – 10 each on levels 2 and 4 – will remain in place, while a tightening up of the traffic regulation order covering the car park will ensure enforcement action can be taken against drivers improperly occupying any of the existing six electric vehicle charging points.

Anybody who wishes to object to any of the proposed changes should contact the county council, specifying the grounds for their objection, by 14th February.

Quoting ref: LSG4\894.20082\AFR, they should either email [email protected] or write to: The Director of Law and Governance, Lancashire County Council, PO Box 100, County Hall, Preston, PR1 0LD.

PRICE CHANGES IN FULL

Current price > > > increased price

Pay and display

Up to 2 hours: £1.60 >>> £1.90

2-4 hours: £3.20 >>> £3.90

Up to 12 hours: £4.00 >>> £4.80

24 hours: £6.00 >>> £7.20

Permits

Quarterly: £180 >>> £215

Annual: £670 >>> £800

Source: Lancashire County Council