All day and overnight parking charges to rise in Dudley after decision rubber-stamped by council
All day and overnight parking charges will rise in Dudley after the decision was rubber-stamped by a council.
Dudley Council approved the plans as part of the budget setting process at a meeting of the full council on Monday, following a review.
Charging for three hours will be standardised across the borough at £2 – currently either £2.10 or £1.80.
All day parking will rise from £3.50 to £5 and overnight parking, from 7pm to 7am, will be £1 instead of being free.
The cost of season tickets will also rise to £600. A 12-month season ticket currently costs £460.
However, drivers will still be able to continue to park for free for two hours.
Councillor Steve Clark, deputy leader of Dudley Council, said he was "delighted" the authority could continue to offer two hours of free parking to residents and visitors.
"We’re investing in the essential maintenance of our car parks and I’m pleased we’re nearing completion of the resurfacing work," he added.
"We’ve also upgraded our pay and display machines, as they were at the end of their life span and were not able to keep up with changes in technology and new methods of payment.
"While we continue to offer two-hour free parking on all council-run car parks, the new machines will make it easier for people who do want to stay for longer and need to pay for their parking.
"With contactless now such a widely accepted means of payment, it’s essential we invest in our car parks and offer a range of payment methods that people have come to expect."
The council is investing more than £200,000 in resurfacing nine car parks across the borough.
Work is already completed at Penzer Street in Kingswinford, Brick Street in Sedgley, Meriden Avenue in Wollaston, King Street and Wolverhampton Street in Dudley and Level Street and Bank Street in Brierley Hill.
It is also under way at the car park on Clinic Drive in Lye and will soon start at Church Street in Stourbridge.
The council has also invested £165,000 in replacing cash only pay and display machines which were no longer fit for purpose.
Some of the machines were 30-years-old.
There are now 40 new machines that accept both contactless and cash payments and a further seven machines which are contactless only.
People can also choose to pay for their car parking via the swift parking app, which launched in the borough 18 months ago.
The app can be downloaded for free.
