Parking charges to go up in three East Sussex towns
Those with highly-polluting vehicles face having to pay more
Plans to increase parking charges in Battle, Bexhill and Rye have been agreed by a senior county councillor.
On Monday (January 27), Cllr Claire Dowling, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for transport and environment, approved proposals to increase on-street parking charges in Rother.
The changes, which went out to public consultation last year, include a major overhaul of residents’ parking permits, which allow for day time parking (mostly between 8am and 6pm) in the seven permit zones in Rother. Four of these zones are in Bexhill, two in Rye and one in Battle.
Currently, the council charges a flat rate for residents’ parking permits in Rother. It costs £10 for a three-month permit, £17 for a six-month permit and £27 for a 12-month permit. As a result of the decision, the council is expected to introduce a new scheme, which would take into account the C02 emissions of the vehicles tied to the permit.
Officers said this change would “facilitate the uptake of vehicles with cleaner fuels” and reduce pollution within the county. This element of the proposals saw concerns raised by some councillors present at the meeting, however.
They included Cllr Ian Hollidge (Con), who said: “How will increasing our on-street charges by over 300 per cent for residents permits create a modal shift from vehicles to sustainable transport? What evidence is there to prove this occurred in Lewes, Hastings or Eastbourne?”
He added: “Where is the evidence that Rother has an air quality problem, which can be addressed by increasing fees.
“These price increases will affect Bexhill most … these are above inflation increases and it is justified by equating prices with Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings.
“I think we all approve of equality, but should we not be focused on ensuring we are equal by bringing Wealden in to Civil Parking Enforcement … because the way it is working at the moment is Bexhill residents … will be paying more to subsidise bus services in Wealden. Is that fair and is that equal?”
The new scheme could significantly increase costs for many permit holders. Only those with very low emission vehicles (emitting 100g/km or less of CO2) would pay less than a current permit holder, with a 12-month permit costing just £17. Vehicles with emissions above this would pay at least £60 for a 12-month permit.
The top end costs of a 12-month permit would rise to £103, although this would only apply to vehicles which emit more than 185g/km of C02.
Costs for business permits, visitor permits and second vehicles would also increase under the proposed scheme.
Emissions-based costs would not apply to disabled parking permits, however, which would be set at a flat rate of £7 for 12-months.
Cllr Dowling also signed off on increases in pay and display parking tariffs. These increases vary from area to area, although some price jumps are significant.
For example, the cost of a two hour ticket at Bexhill Marina is set to increase from £2.95 to £4.30, while an all-day ticket for the Seafront and Bexhill North parking areas would increase from £2.20 to £3.20.
Pay and display parking near Bexhill Station would also be set to increase. Currently, an all-day ticket (10 hours) costs £4.35, but would be set to rise to £6.35 under the proposed scheme.
The cost of one-hour of on-street parking in both Battle and Rye would also increase from 45p to 70p.
The level of increase saw concerns raised by Cllr Abul Azad (Ind), who said: “Bexhill is not large like Eastbourne and Hastings, it is a small town and is facing economic challenges. Many of our high street shops are already empty and … increasing parking charges would only worsen the situation as it would deter visitors and shoppers from coming to the town centre.
“Local business is already struggling to survive and high parking fees could force some out of business.”
Councillors had also raised concerns about these costs when compared to off-street parking within Bexhill. Notably, off-street parking fees are not set by the county council, but are controlled by other organisations such as Rother District Council.
Several councillors pointed out how the on-street fees would still be cheaper than the off-street fees, once upcoming price changes were taken into account. This is significant as officers had argued in favour of more expensive on-street fees as a way to increase “churn”, in other words the turnover of people using the parking spaces.
Officers said this price difference had been taken into consideration when setting out the planned fees, but the level of increase required to make on-street parking more expensive than off-street was considered to be too great a jump.
Ultimately, Cllr Dowling agreed to move ahead with the proposals.
She said: “Having the correct parking charge structure in place is important to help manage demand. It is very unfortunate that off-street car park charges are what they are … but we are not looking at increasing ours in line.
“Increasing permit charges along with joining Eastbourne, Lewes and Hastings in basing fees on CO2 emissions will help to reduce pollution across the coastal towns and the town centres.”