Car park charges to increase in Sandwell

Their reasons for increasing parking charges relate to policies on the climate emergency and ongoing financial difficulties related to coronavirus.

Councillor Zahoor Ahmed, cabinet member for environment services, put forward the new parking provision to the cabinet, which were passed today (Wednesday).

He said: "These charges will bring Sandwell into line with other Black Country authorities" which have historically had higher fees.

The car parking charges, if approved, will commence in 2023. Season tickets for long-stay car parks are also set to increase. The charges will not affect Sandwell Valley car parks.

A new low-cost 30-minute parking charge to assist small businesses outside West Bromwich will be introduced, costing residents 20p for up to 30 minutes, going up to 50p by 2027. An average two-hour stay will be £1.00, rising up to £1.20.

Businesses outside West Bromwich will face a higher charge for off-street car parking. Residents will be charged 40p for up to 30 minutes, going up to 80p by 2027. An average two-hour stay will be £2.00, rising up to £2.40.

At a previous Sandwell council meeting, councillor Amrita Dunn had previously asked the Labour-led local authority to back her campaign for free car parking across Sandwell. At the time, she claimed 20,000 people backed the Sandwell Conservatives calls for free weekend parking.

A free car parking scheme in Wednesbury was already being considered by top council chiefs, and was a major issue during the local election campaign. At the time, council leader Kerrie Carmichael told the Express and Star: “Resolving this quickly is important to me and I am currently gathering the information necessary and will consider free parking along with any other options that are available as soon as I can.”

But in the new report, Sandwell council claims the increase in car parking charges are designed to alleviate congestion, encourage cycling and walking, reduce short journeys by car, and facilitate the trend towards more working from home.

They claim they have had complaints from workers, particularly in West Bromwich, experiencing difficulty finding parking spaces after 8am. They claim some individuals have spent “up to an hour driving around town centre car parks “looking for parking spaces after 10am”.

But buried in the report, the council admits both inflation, a lack of revenue due to the pandemic, and workers’ preference to work from home, have resulted in reduced parking income and a £300,000 deficit in 2021-22. Without this income, the council say they will unable to maintain the car parks and further highway maintenance.

It states: “In the past, any surplus on the parking account have [sic] been allocated in accordance with statutory requirements. However, the sustained increase in working from home following the pandemic has reduced parking income well below the levels needed to fund this service.

“A deficit of more than £300,000 on the parking account was experienced in 2021/22 and is likely to continue at similar levels without action. In these circumstances, available service budgets are not sufficient to maintain normal levels of statutory services also because of the increased costs arising from post-pandemic price inflation.”

There are 3,059 council-operated car park spaces in the borough and charges are applied on 2,798 of this total. Out of the 2,798 spaces where charges apply there are only 161 dedicated for short stay use. The remaining 2,637 spaces can be used for both short and long stays.

The Birmingham Clean Air Zone (CAZ), Sandwell council claims, is likely to impact their own car parking services, as individuals use Sandwell’s low cost parking facilities to travel into Birmingham city centre and avoid CAZ charges.