Dorset Council is working closely with residents, Town and Parish Councils, and community and business representatives as we look to change the way we charge for parking at our car parks across the county from next year.
Watch the video to find out more, or continue reading below for more information.
As part of the Parking Transformation project, which seeks to standardise car park prices across the council area, the Council also wants to know what residents think about a new car park permit that is being developed so Dorset’s residents, workers and businesses aren’t left out of pocket by the proposed new pricing.
The proposed three tier pricing structure for car parks differentiates between the diverse and unique areas that Dorset enjoys – rural, coastal and town – and the seasonal nature of car parks at popular visitor destinations. It aims to bring consistency to charging across Dorset Council car parks – where charges currently span from free to £9 all day.
- Level one pricing, in smaller more rural car parks, is proposed to start at 50p for 30 minutes and rise incrementally to £4 for all day.
- Level two pricing, in our market towns and shopping destination car parks, is proposed to start at 50p for 30 minutes and will have slightly higher incremental rises up to £6 for all day.
- Level three pricing, in our visitor destination car parks, is proposed to have the same pricing as Level Two car parks in the low season. In the high season (1 April to 31 October), prices are proposed to start at £1 for 30 minutes and rise incrementally up to £10 for all day.
As part of this work, a single car park permit is proposed for drivers living and working in Dorset. This would replace the 76 different car park permits currently available across the county, covering the old district and borough local authority areas.
The proposed annual residents, workers and businesses car park permit would allow drivers to park in specified Dorset Council car parks throughout the year. A residents’ survey has been launched to inform the cost and offer of the permit, with the proposed price to be confirmed once feedback has been analysed, and costs calculated. Monthly payments are also being considered to help spread the cost.
Please note that current on-street residents’ permits will remain the same and are outside the scope of this work.
Dorset’s town and parish councillors, and community representatives participating in stakeholder groups, are being asked to comment on the proposed tiered car park pricing structure, while the permit survey is open to everyone to ensure plans take into account the views of Dorset’s motorists, as well as specific, local knowledge on parking.
Comments on the proposals will be reviewed and incorporated into the plans, where appropriate. The project team hopes to present the final proposals to Dorset Council Place and Resources Overview Committee in October and to Cabinet in November – with a view to introduce new parking charges in January 2022.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said: “We want a pricing strategy that works for as many people as possible and brings consistency in parking charges across the Dorset Council area. We also want to mitigate the impact of any price changes on Dorset’s residents, workers, and shoppers by offering discounted parking through a new permit.
“We’ve worked extremely hard on benchmarking our prices and checking the cost of parking when compared to our neighbours and similar locations. This included looking at prices in the BCP area, as well as in visitor destinations like Torquay and Weston-Super-Mare.
“We’re trying to get the right balance so that costs are not so high that our car parks are under-used and people are pushed into parking on residential roads, but not so low that drivers cannot find a space to park or choose to drive rather than using a more sustainable form of travel.
“We also want our peak season charges to be aimed at visitors by making them comparable to prices at similar destinations in the south. Our proposed Dorset parking permit will protect our residents and workers from paying these higher prices.
“We’ll be gathering comments from residents, stakeholder groups, parish and town councillors and Dorset Council members, so please take the time to complete the permit survey and/or speak with your local town, parish or Dorset councillor to find out more about this work developing the new parking charges.”
The scale of increase in parking prices will vary for each individual driver, depending on the car park being used and the duration of stay.
Proposals are also for on-street parking changes to be made more consistent, following the same three-tier approach. These spaces will be charged at a higher price than compared to the same tier car park price. This is to generate a higher turnover of cars for the spaces, meaning more people can better access local businesses etc. for shorter durations.
Waivers can still be purchased for tradespeople who need to park for work. Blue badges will be reviewed separately to these proposals, as will health care permits.
Anyone wishing to provide feedback on the proposed parking permit should complete the survey or speak to their local town or parish council. The closing date for the survey is Sunday 11 July.
I have spoken to the Town Council about the huge number of visitors and holidaymakers who descend on West Bay And Bridport town. When the parking was £2 all day, they still wouldnt pay. No chance they will pay £8 when there is a huge estate (Meadowlands) with a footpath 5 mins walk to the beach.
Living here is a nightmare in summer. Cars pulling up to park every 2 mins slamming doors, kids screaming, parents shouting abuse. One parent parked on our turning area for residents parking calling us Effing C**** My neighbours are 70s/80s and are upset by such language. We have had to pick up bags of used nappies from the verge which one resident keeps mown each week. Dogs mess and its mot picked up.
We need white lines, double yellows and residents parking only.
Theres one small entrance/exit road for the whole estate. Most roads can only accommodate parking one side. The Spring Bank holiday a visitor parked opposite residents cars, blocking the road to emergency and van sized vehicles. This regularly happens. Police can do nothing, parking authority can do nothing. We are dreading the school holidays. Living here is a nightmare, set to get worse by the £8 parking charge. The whole estate needs to be a no go area for visitors parking.
What do you mean they wouldn’t pay? If you don’t pay the parking fee then surely you will get a ticket? The revenue is then recouped. I really don’t think you can live in a holiday town and then complain about holidaymakers?
Surely they meant they won’t pay the £2 car park and chose to park for free in Meadowlands.
Seems a good idea. Will you be harmonising times as well? It always seems unfair that Wimborne charges for parking on a Sunday.
We’d certainly like to align times as best as we can John, but it will be dependent on the needs of each area – James
What sort of answer is “it will be dependent on the needs of each area”? That just sounds like “No”.
I can understand charging for beach car parks as has been done for a number of years by WDDC but PLEASE align the old district councils’ car parking charges asap so there is no future confusion.
P.S. Just to clarify that by ‘align’ I was referring to the free inland Sundays and evenings parking currently in operation within the old WDDC area.
Rick – It’s an accurate answer. We are working directly with local town and parish council and business organisations to ensure that the new charges work for each area. You can see the proposed tiers in the video, as what works for a tourist resort may not work for a rural village – James
I live on Portland and disabled I’ve just applied and recieved my free permit to accompany my blue badge for free parking ,but realise this only covers north ,west and Dorchester, when you also run Weymouth and Portland bill and chesil beach car parks where I cant park for free ? Why would this be
It’s an arrangement dating back to the time before Dorset Council was launched, Mr.Walbridge. One of the main reasons we’re looking to launch these new schemes is to make the permits more flexible (ie. they can be used across the whole county) and ensure that all our customers have the same level of access to our car parks – James
Well if you want to work with communities that will be a first, no doubt if you were pushed you could probably tell us what you have already decided to put in place
Robert – As stated in the release, we have already been working with external stakeholder groups, including town and parish councils who were all invited to take part earlier in the year. We are engaging with chambers and BIDs and we’re asking everyone to get in touch with their local councillor if they wish to comment on the parking charges, and/or fill out the survey to provide feedback on the permit – James
I can’t believe that any one in the council can possibly think that at this time off putting up parking costs would benefit anyone except the greedy council. as a resident we pay enough council tax we should receive a sticker for our car window to allow free parking for at least four hours so our towns shops can recover from the last 18 months we need to rebuild our high streets not crippling it with more expensive parking
Hi as a regular visitor to your lovely area I was initially somewhat dismayed at the decision to increase parking charges in places like West Bay as it’s not as popular as Weymouth doesn’t have the facilities shops etc to warrant the same price structure. I am a pensioner and this increase will certainly impact on our holiday budget. I hope this is not a final decision as yet?
There does not seem to be any item about disabled parking permits. East Dirset area has them currently, will a single permit be issued for all of Dorset?
Blue badges will be reviewed separately to these proposals, as will health care permits. When these conversations begin, we’ll let everyone know how they can get involved – James
Everything that you propose is ” Hit the motorist ” again, younare continually frightening people away from visiting the area with. You costly parking charges.
We have a blue badge as my wife is disabled and when we visit Poole the only available disabled parking adjacent to the Dolphin shopping centre is as yo go under the covered way at the rear of the
centre. Here there are only 4 to 5 spaces depending on lengths of cars parked there. There used to be about 10 other spaces for disabled parking at the rear of the bus station but that has been coned off now for around a year, why ? Well it’s because there is scaffolding erected there but nobody working on it as I said for the last year. The only other 4 spaces is on the road adjacent to The Lighthouse Theatre but that’s not good for disabled people !!!!
The alternative is to park in the open air car park as you approach the bus station but then you are subjected to being charged. Why can’t 10 spaces be made for the disabled in this car park ” free of charges” while this on- going non existent work is being done behind the bus station !!!! I suggest you try being disabled for a day with a wheelchair etc and see how you get on and like it.
Now perhaps you can see what I mean about forcing people away with your lack of disabled parking and high parking charges.
I welcome your answers to these problems.
We don’t look after the car parks in Poole Derek – best bet is to contact BCP Council.
In principle it sounds a good idea. Will you please take into consideration those residents living in rural areas, with no public transport, who have to travel into areas only once or twice a week?
At commercial Rd where the parking is free for one hour why are the spaces not marked for individual cars ? Selfish drivers pull in and take up to spaces . It just needs marking out
not expensive.
Will all car parks in a town become the same rate? No long term/short term variation? This takes away the ability of town councils to have slightly out of town car parks which charge considerably less money. Used correctly this can be a method of creating less congestion in town centres and providing parking for low paid workers who need a full day charge.
Otherwise, as another person has already commented, workers will seek out unrestricted areas in residential areas and walk in.
We pay road tax ,tax on petrol and now high car park charged. What about cyclists they get nice new cycle lane ,don’t need no insurance ,for riding on roads,let’s get real and make them pay for using
roads and car parks
Are you being serious? Or maybe just winding us up?? Bikes obviously don’t use greenhouse producing fuels, don’t cause congestion in car parks and keep people fit into the bargain as the go about their business. I do agree though, that cyclists should have insurance.
I would not like to see parking meters in our town. Has this decision been finalised yet please? If not where can I find out more/raise my concern
Thank you
Parking meters are not being considered as part of this work Caroline. If you wish to comment on the charges, please speak to your local town or parish council. If you want to fill out the parking permit survey, please go to http://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/parking-permit-survey – James
Verwood is a quiet town/village why can’t we have the first 30minutes to park free? When I lived in Hillingdon alot of parking was like this.
Rather than just focusing on raising parking charges – however well thought out,
can further consideration be given to
Park and Ride, particularly at peak times and to popular places, avoiding congestion issues, as well as visitors not using car parks at all and using residential streets.
Subsidised Bus services that fit to regular and appropriate times for both town and rural communities
Weekend and evening bus services
Evening parking concessions
Coming from Portland why do we have to pay premium parking prices if we wish to take our car to town. Is it any wonder that all the shops in Weymouth are shutting down due to lack of foot fall. Don’t tell me to take it up with my local councilor. I have several times but he says that he is outnumbered by the majority of councilrs who dont even come to Weymouth or Portland
Forgive me if I sound like an old cynic. History tells us that the Council will do what they whatever they want regardless of other opinions. As with other decisions, it is a ‘done deal’ and the so called consultation is just going through the motions. The decision will be the same!
So who is benefiting from the introduction of car parking charges being introduced in Verwood which at the moment are free? Certainly not the users of the car parks nor the residents living in roads around the town. Only the Council adding to their income from the motorist are going to benefit!!
More consideration should be paid to an enjoyable and interesting park and ride scheme. The one in Weymouth is hopeless, the transfers were too infrequent to be an attractive option for families with all the paraphernalia needed. Using the Park and ride at St Ives was fun and avoided the impossible traffic.
Thank you for your report and opportunity to comment…
Have you addressed HOW parking fees are payed ? The cash machines are in my view a pain to use, often unserviceable, and , particularly regarding COVID, unhygienic.
I appreciate installation of plate recognition systems would often be impractical and expensive but the parking iPhone app works well enough – are they being extended?
Regards
Alan – Ideally we want to offer as many different ways to pay for parking as possible. We strongly recommend the JustPark app, but it’s doubtful we’ll be moving away from cash/card payments any time soon. We attempted to do this for COVID/hygiene reasons last year and there was an outcry from people who don’t use a smartphone – James
Why do so many organisations assume everyone uses a smartphone? Plenty of people don’t, as you’ve now discovered, and we now worry about going to Portland Bill because the cash/card option on every meter is so often out of order. Why do you not have them fixed??
The increase in parking charges for level 1 and 2 is ridiculous, 70p/£1 for an hour. £1.50 for 2 hours in Level 2, is this really going to be the new rates, double what we pay now. Why on earth did the council stop charging in the covid period, absolutely not necessary. Pay enough council tax as it is now, now we have these ridiculous charges to contend with, the white elephant building that was built behind Gould’s, in Dorchester I assume we are paying for its non use. Supermarket car parks and side streets, are my shopping destinations now or neighbouring counties, which are nearby. I hope Waitrose will continue to refund parking charges when I shop in Bridport. Is there going to be a cut off time? I feel very sorry for the traders trying to rebuild their businesses in the area.
Weymouth relies on tourism, like it or not without the tourists the town would hardly exist. We can no longer rely on it attracting shoppers. No doubt there is another department within the Council trying their very best to encourage visitors to Weymouth and Dorset in general, who have to somehow persuade them that we do not target tourists for the privalige of parking in the”nice” places.
Once again the motorists are being used to fill up the “black hole” in Councillor Bryans budget. It is a simple policy to put up parking charges, show a bit of innovation and come up with alternative ways to raise revenue. How about reducing the many layers of management within the council and combining roles as the real world does in private indursties when times get difficult.
Chris – When considering the proposed charges for tourist car parks in peak season, we have benchmarked against other resorts in the area. Given how busy all those destinations are with visitors, we do not believe raising the price will have a negative impact on those places, especially given how busy other tourist hotspots are that charge much more than us. It’s also worth noting that there have (and continue to be) extensive staffing reviews and restructures around the launch of Dorset Council (ie. management has already been reduced) and that revenue raised from car parks can only be spent on car parks – James
There used to be Traffic Wardens working in Ferndown they are not now seen, thus parking on the pavement plus on approach to pedestrian crossing and on double yellow lines happens regularly with no controls in place.
Having looked at your pricing structure it seems that the local shopper popping into town for a few bits & being out for less than an hour is being penalised.
Also with some Day rates increasing from £2.00 per day to £10.00 per day instead of hitting the tourist this charge will hit the locals who with the ever decreasing bus service have to travel by car to get to work, for five days a week, parking costs going from £2 a day to £10.00 a day, making working unviable to some people as they won’t be able to afford £50 per week to park, as you’ve given NO details if the cost of the Parking Permits & therefore residents have to work on what information you have published.
It seems that car parks will be priced at a point that residents will find using public transport a better option. “ this statement cannot be implemented until all rural locations have adequate frequent bus service.
In the You Tube feature by Ray Bryan he states that buying a parking permit will negate the new charges “parking permits will help workers and locals from paying the increased charges.”
But there has not been an example in any presentation as to how much or what will be covered in the new parking permit costs, surely this consultation should have given the permit costs and terms of condition for each permit?
With NO BUS service at all in the Marshwood Vale and a very reduced bus service in other Rural Villages (Broadwindsor, Mosterton etc) residents have to drive into Town to go shopping and go to the Doctors, in Beaminster the Barton House Doctors Surgery being located in the long stay area of the Yarn Barton carpark – where incidentally are the ONLY DISABLED SPACES, this car park only has 10 short stay spaces which are located as you enter the car park making it a very long walk for the elderly and those not classed as disabled, with the disabled having to pay the LONG STAY CHARGE, surely these should be regarded as Short Stay, going to the doctor or picking up a prescription will be extremely costly for those who are disabled.
ALL DISABLED parking should revert to being free for those having blue badges in all Dorset Council owned short stay Car Parks.
Dorset Council must revisit their pricing structure to make it more affordable for the working population and local shoppers.
Having now had sight of the Dorset Council Proposed Parking Charges Strategy Report by Elizabeth Murray the Strategic Parking Project Manager of 21st June – it seems that the people who regularly use the Long Stay Car Parks to go to work, and the residents from Rural Areas who have to use their car to go into town for shopping, collecting prescriptions etc as are the ones who are going to be penalised the most.
All car parks are going to be priced at a point where residents will find using public transport a cheaper option – that’s if there is a Bus Service, but there are many areas that have no Bus Service.
Ray Bryan stated that buying a parking permit will negate the new charges “parking permits will help workers and locals from paying the increased charges” – but he did not give any indication as to the cost of these permits.
Dorset Council must revisit their pricing structure and make it affordable for the working population of Dorset and local shoppers to use the Car Parks, or we risk more people parking on the streets.
Let me start by saying that I don’t believe that these proposals/survey have been widely advertised and so the increases will be rail roaded through without residents consideration. I happened to see something it a free magazine otherwise would have not known.
I pay £2,294 council tax, £2,521 for a small beach hut and £110 car park permit allowing me to park at Shore road to access the beach hut. Without the permit it would be impossible to park. As it is unless I get to Shore road before 8.30am I cannot get parked either in the car park or side roads and have to return home. The beach hut costs have gone up between 5% and 10% every year and will soon only be viable for the well off. I cannot believe Bournemouth council (lets face it they took Poole over and it was no amalgamation) will keep the beach permit at £110 and want to know just how much they intend to hike it by. (it wont stay the same or go down thats for sure). There’s a lot of gobbledgook on here and we just want the bottom line of “how much is it going to cost us long suffering residents who seem to be continually bled dry”.
Jean – The area/road you refer to is in Poole, which Dorset Council doesn’t cover. You would need to speak to BCP Council.
The parking in Weymouth Old Town West is absurd. The parking charges on the board are different to those on the machine. Hence I paid the cheaper charge (machine) and ended up with a £100 fine. Due to destroying my ticket I cannot appeal.
Just got slapped with the same, Dorset Council sort it out.. what a scam.
Will the new live, work play permits apply to Weymouth and Portland Car Parks. As your press release “the majority of car parks”. Which ones are excluded.
We can’t say specifically which car parks will be included or excluded in the permit scheme yet, but there should be car parks in both Weymouth and Portland that the permits can be used in.