Crewe car park could charge according to demand for spaces

All aspects of parking will be reviewed by Cheshire East Council

A new council-operated car park in Crewe could have varied parking charges depending on the demand for spaces.

Cheshire East Council will also look at increasing parking costs and a review of staff parking permits.

A council report said the Royal Arcade car park, which is set to open by the end of the year, could pilot a scheme of "Demand Responsive Parking Charges".

The review is set to be discussed at a council meeting next week ahead of a planned consultation in September.

Car parks in Macclesfield and Wilmslow could also get the demand-responsive parking charges.

'Fairer than the current system'

Cheshire East Council is responsible for 111 off-street car parks, 64 of which are pay and display and 47 which are free to use.

It has not increased parking charges since 2018.

Areas such as Alsager, Bollington, Handforth, Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Poynton, Prestbury and Sandbach all have free parking.

The report said there were "significant differences" in the locations of free and paid-for car parks and councillors are due to discuss ways of making pay and display charges to be more consistent across the borough.

The report said the proposals were "fairer than the current system" and the reason some car parks were currently free and others pay and display was "not clear".

If approved, a public consultation is set begin in September with any changes introduced from February.