Proposed parking tariff increases for 2025/26
We are consulting with Community Forums and key stakeholders on proposed parking tariff increases for 2025/26 in our pay and display car parks. These changes are part of the Council’s efforts to ensure fair and sustainable parking fees across the district.
Each year the council adjusts parking charges to keep up with rising costs, in accordance with our medium-term financial strategy. Since no increase was applied this year, we’re proposing a 4% rise in April 2025 to account for the last two years (2024/25 and 2025/26). We will be submitting a report to Cabinet in February 2025.
Summary of changes
Here’s a summary of the proposed key changes:
- 4% inflation increase in parking charges at all council car parks in Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston, and Knebworth. Charges will be rounded to the nearest 10p.
- introduction of a flat rate tariff in Royston and Letchworth, and retention of the existing flat rate in Hitchin, allowing you to park for 1, 2, or 3 hours at the same price after 3pm in as part of the Council’s off-peak parking incentive.
More detailed information on tariffs and locations can be found in the attached Appendix A document.
Send us your comments
We’re inviting the community and local organisations to share their thoughts before the council’s Cabinet makes a final decision in February 2025. All comments will be summarised and presented to Cabinet.
The deadline for submitting your comments is 15 January 2025.
Email your comments to: transport@north-herts.gov.uk
Background
The Council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy sets an annual budget assumption that the Council would increase parking fees and charges annually by 2%. The last tariff increases were approved by Cabinet in September 2023 and were implemented in November 2023. This was a tariff increase for 2023/24.
It was agreed to postpone the increasing of parking tariffs in 2024/25 financial year as the Council wished to bring the tariff increases back in line with the Council’s budget setting process for the start of the financial year. The implementation of the parking tariff increases has been delayed to later in the financial years as a result of the pandemic and enabling local businesses further time to recover from the pandemic and more recently to address the economic pressures being faced more widely with increases in energy prices and overall cost of living.
Bringing the parking tariff increases back in line will enable the Council to set the parking tariff in line with inflation ready for introduction at the start of the new financial year. It is therefore proposed to increase parking tariffs in April 2025 to cover the 24/25 and 25/26 financial years.
Considerations behind the proposals
The approach adopted by the Council is to be consistent across all car parks and harmonize tariffs where possible within each town whilst respecting their separate identities.
The aim is to set car parking tariffs that support the achievement of modal shift away from private car use in seeking to reduce carbon emissions and supporting more sustainable initiatives as set out in the Council’s Climate Change Strategy (2022-2027). It is also the Council’s intention to introduce alternative methods of payment that will enable visitors to stay longer to help support the vitality of town centres. The replacement of the machines will commence in early 2025.
The following rationale has been applied when considering the proposed tariff increases for next financial year:
- To apply a 4% inflationary increase to all tariffs across all council operated car parks in Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, Royston and Knebworth rounded up to the nearest 10p with the exception of the free 0-2 hour tariff at the Norton Common car parks in Letchworth to facilitate users of the common and being out of centre car parks. This 4% increase is reflective of general inflation over the 2 year period and is still lower than the inflationary increases on public transport.
- To increase the on-street tariffs in Market Hill Royston to bring the one hour tariff in line with the Royston off street car parks and to apply the 4% inflationary increase to the 2 hour tariff.
- To retain the off-peak (after 3pm) incentive in Hitchin to support the vitality of the town centre, whereby people can choose to stay for 1,2 or 3 hours.
- To retain an off-peak incentive in Royston with the introduction of a flat rate tariff after 3pm across all car parks including the on- street tariffs in Market Hill. Whilst free parking has been provided via a subsidy from other sources since 2012, this subsidy has not had an inflationary increase and is much lower than the lost income/ fair proportion of the car park costs. So, it has been reviewed to accord with the Council's agreed policy to implement subsidy and incentive parking schemes on a break-even approach.
- While introducing a tariff in Royston could result in a reduction in visitor patronage to the town centre after 3pm this could even out visitors to the town centre during the day thereby supporting local businesses. This would not preclude the Council considering applications from the Royston BID or any other organisation from continuing to subsidise after 3pm parking in any of the Royston car parks.
- To introduce a similar off-peak incentive in Letchworth, by proposing a flat rate tariff after 3pm to encourage more visitors to the town centre later in the day and to stay longer. Such an initiative has been requested by Letchworth BID in the past.
- The same model has been applied for the off-street incentive across all three towns – where the flat rate after 3pm following the 4% inflationary increase is 10p more than the 1-hour tariff. The proposals are as follows:
- For Hitchin - increasing the flat rate of £1.50 in the long stay car parks and £1.70 in the short stay car parks
- For Royston – introducing a £1.00 flat rate across all car parks
- For Letchworth – introducing a flat rate of £1.10 in the Hillshott long stay and the multi-story car park and £1.50 in the Town Hall short stay car park.
- The off-peak incentive is not proposed for Baldock or Knebworth, given the amount of on-street parking and the low tariff structure within the Baldock long stay car park and the short stay car park in Knebworth being a small car park where parking is a premium and the incentive is to encourage turn over of spaces to support the local high street businesses.
- The Council had previously chosen not to increase the cost of Season Tickets or Business Permits since 2021 due the reduction in the take up of these permits with the change in employer habits since the pandemic with more people continuing to work from home and commuting into their office on certain days. This trend appears to be continuing and as a means of supporting local businesses it is proposed not to increase the cost of season tickets for 2025/26.