Ill-thought out cuts to Wolverhampton parking charges is causing confusion, chaos and congestion, claims leading Tory

Councillor Simon Bennett's comments follow an incident where the Broad Street car park was overwhelmed by people trying to leave a theatre production, culminating in frustrated drivers trying to force a barrier open.

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Councillor Bennett said residents and visitors reported long queues, confusion over charges, and vehicles circulating around full council-run car parks, with many drivers unaware of changes to the pricing system.

In October last year, Wolverhampton Council introduced temporary free overnight parking at Broad Street car park in the run-up to Christmas. It was replaced by a £2 overnight fee at the start of the year. 

Last month, the council announced that all its car parks, apart from the Civic Centre and St Peter's car parks, would have an overnight rate of £2 from April 1 onwards.

Councillor Bennett said the situation was entirely predictable.

“Week after week, when there’s a major event in our city centre, we see the same story, congestion, frustration and confusion," he said.

"This is what happens when you rush out a new parking system without properly managing the fall-out. Labour have rolled out U-turns, rushed discounts and new technology willy-nilly, without thinking through the impact on residents, businesses or traffic flow.”

But Councillor Qaiser Azeem, cabinet member for transport, said Councillor Bennett had recently been complaining about a lack of visitors in the city.

"Let’s be honest, Councillor Bennett can’t have it both ways," he said.

"He can’t call Wolverhampton a 'ghost town' one minute, then complain the car parks are full and the roads are busy when people actually use our reduced charges. That contradiction speaks for itself."

Councillor Bennett said the disparity in charges between council-run car parks was pushing motorists towards cheaper locations, and creating bottlenecks.

He called for uniform pricing across all town centre car parks to end confusion. He said there also needed to be more pay stations for people leaving the car parks at night.

“When you create inconsistent pricing across council car parks, drivers will understandably head for the cheapest option," he said.

"Some car parks are overwhelmed, others underused, and the roads in between become clogged. That's why my groups alternative budget plan covered all council car parks not just the inconsistent few.

"That isn’t a technology problem, it’s a strategy failure.”

He said the council needed to be making it easier for people to visit the city centre, particularly when major events were taking place at venues such as Molineux, the Grand Theatre and The Halls.

"We want people coming into Wolverhampton, spending money in our shops, restaurants and venues," he said.

"But if their experience is sitting in traffic and driving round in circles looking for reasonably priced parking, they simply won’t come back."

"The council needs to think seriously and intelligently about their overall car-park strategy. That means consistent pricing, proper event-day planning, and clear communication, not knee-jerk policy rolled out without assessing its impact.  Right now, residents are seeing chaos and confusion instead."

A council spokesman said that from April 1 there would be a flat £2 evening rate from 5pm to 5am across all council city-centre car parks, apart from St Peter’s and the Civic Centre. It will also be £3.50 to park all day, up to 12 hours, at Fold Street and St George’s car parks from the start of next month.

 “It’s great to see our city centre busy. Broad Street is particularly busy during events at the Grand Theatre, The Halls and Wolves home fixtures," he said, adding that drivers could now pay on arrival at Broad Street, at the pay station, or at the barrier on exit. He said there would shortly be signs explaining this at the site.

"We have also installed further measures to improve traffic flow around the site including widening car parking spaces and bollards for a smoother system, as well as resurfacing and relining the access road into the car park from Westbury Street. 

“While the technology at our Civic Centre, St Peter’s, Broad Street and Fold Street car parks is very new, our investment will simplify the system, reducing maintenance costs of outdated equipment, and removing the need for third-party app fees for users.”

Councillor Chris Burden, cabinet member for development, said: “Our parking changes are about backing Wolverhampton’s businesses with a plan that actually works." 

"We’ve cut prices where it makes the biggest difference, £3.50 all‑day parking, cheaper Civic Centre rates, and a simple £2 evening offer across the city centre."

He said the parking policies were shaped after extensive consultation with businesses, who told the council what was needed to boost visitor numbers.

"The Conservatives’ proposals were unfunded, untargeted and ignored the evidence, frankly dreamt up on the back of a fag packet.”