Horsham street parking in 25 per cent hike

From July 1, the cost of parking on town centre streets will increase from 80p per hour to £1 per hour - a closer price to that of town centre car parks.

The roads operating within the pay and display system are Barttelot Road, Bishopric, Denne Parade, Denne Road, Fordingbridge Close, London Road, Normandy Close, North Parade, North Street and Springfield Road.

The increase to on-street parking charges follows a West Sussex County Council review of parking charges.

Increases to parking charges across the county are expected to produce additional income of £108,929 in a full financial year.

Residents’ permits will be retained at the current rate, of £40 for the first permit and £70 for each subsequent permit per address, for a further year.

The report states that the increases to on-street parking across West Sussex will provide a number of benefits to residents.

It reads: “All customers will be positively affected by the increased accessibility (of Horsham town centre).

“This will be experienced in the form of: the greater availability of on-street parking spaces, less time spent and distance travelled searching for a parking space, less traffic congestion and pollution arising from ‘searching’ traffic.

“Greater accessibility of town centre parking will benefit the local economy and support local shops and services.”

The new cost of pay and display parking is similar to the cost of town centre car parks, which range from £1 to £1.20 per hour.

The report states that, with on-street parking priced at 80p per hour, the demand for it is ‘too high’.

It reads: “Increasing the on-street tariff would encourage some of this traffic into the car parks, but an increase of over 50 per cent would be necessary to correct the imbalance. This increase could be seen as excessive.

“This might have a negative impact on the number of visitors to the town centre, with negative consequences for the local economy, and lead to displaced parking in residential roads around the town centre.

“It is therefore recommended to moderate the amount of the increase to £0.20 (i.e. a tariff of £1.00 per hour),” the report says.

Non-residents’ permits will also experience a 25 per cent raise, with prices increasing from £200 to £250.

New, all-day permits for residents’ visitors are to be introduced, costing £1.40 per day or £7 per five or six day week.