Changes to town's parking charges approved

Woking Borough Council has changed prices to four town centre car parks

Car parking charges, season tickets and permits are set to change in a Surrey town following a two-year freeze.

Bankrupt Woking Borough Council (WBC) said the shake up was an attempt to generate income and streamline tariffs.

Under the plans, four car parks will see a 30% decrease in three-hour tariffs but a 22% rise in hourly rates, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The move preceded the council's decision on Monday to increase its share of council tax by 2.99%.

The council said its car park income remained around £1m less than pre-2020 levels, although it had seen a £700k increase between 2022/23 and 2023/24.

New prices and daily tariffs will be coming to Victoria Place, Victoria Way, Brewery Road and Heathside.

Parking permit and season ticket charges will face the biggest overhaul.

Changes include reducing permit options from 65 to 26, reducing some discounted permits and adding a £25 admin charge to processing blue badges for disabled parking.

WBC said it will gradually transition the new prices over up to five years "where increases are significant" and over three years where they are "less significant".

The plans, which were agreed on 27 February, legally a have a 21-day notice of variation before introduction.

A public consultation may be considered when launching the new charges, said WBC.