Planned parking charge rises reversed

Four low-tariff parking zones in Brighton and Hove were facing a price jump of between 185% and 299.9%

Plans to quadruple parking charges in parts of Brighton and Hove have been axed by councillors.

Four parking zones had been due to become high-tariff zones next Monday, having previously been low-tariff.

Plans to move zones C, H, J and N into the high-tariff bracket were voted down on Thursday. Zone H contains the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

The charge for an hour in the four low-tariff parking zones will now go up from £1.40 to £1.50 instead of quadrupling to £5.60.

The council’s executive director for the economy, environment and culture, Donna Chisholm, said the charges were advertised in April before appearing on the council website, ready to take effect on 17 July.

Labour councillor Trevor Muten, who chairs the council’s transport and sustainability committee, said that Labour and the Conservatives had voted against the increases earlier this year.

He said "there was no support" for the original decision to increase the charges.

“This indiscriminate aggressive attack on NHS, care workers, outpatients, small businesses, residents and visitors is unacceptable," he said.

“These are not cash cows to be milked again and again. Rather they are people who need to get around our city to live and work.”