Drivers in Dorset are being reminded of on-street parking charge changes.
From Friday 25 February, on-street parking charges will increase as part of Dorset Council’s parking transformation project.
The decision to update on-street parking charges was recommended to Cabinet by Place and Resources Overview Committee in October 2021 and approved by Cabinet in November 2021.
The changes will see a more consistent approach to on-street charging, following the same tiered approach as upcoming Dorset Council car park price changes.
On-street parking spaces will be charged at a higher price than compared to car park prices at the same location. This will generate a higher turnover of cars – helping keep on-street spaces for Blue Badge Holders and giving all residents better access to local businesses when popping into town for a quick visit.
Waivers can still be purchased for tradespeople who need to park for work.
On-street charges
Blandford
Daytime charges (8am-6pm)
1 hour – £1.50
Overnight (6pm-8am) free
Dorchester
Daytime charges (8am-6pm)
1 hour – £1.50
Overnight (6pm-8am) free or £2 (please check at location)
Swanage
Station Road
daytime charges (8am-6pm)
30 minutes – £1.00
1 hour – £1.50
Overnight (6pm-8am) free
Shore Road
daytime charges (8am-6pm)
1 hour – £2.50
2 hours – £3.50
3 hours – £4.50
4 hours – £6.00
10 hours – £12.00
Overnight (6pm-8am) £4
Wareham
Daytime charges (8am-6pm)
1 hour – £1.50
2 hours – £2.00
3 hours – £3.00
4 hours – £4.00
Overnight (6pm-8am) free
Weymouth
Beach area
daytime charges (8am-6pm)
30 mins (where available) £1.50
1 hour – £2.50
2 hours – £3.50
3 hours – £4.50
4 hours – £6.00
Overnight (6pm-8am) £4
Westham Bridge
daytime charges (8am-6pm)
1 hour – £2.00
2 hours – £3.00
3 hours – £4.00
4 hours – £5.00
10 hours – £10.00
Overnight (6pm-8am) free
In all cases, please check the machine in the area you are parking. For mobile payment users, the JustPark app will be updated with the new fees from 25 February.
Nice to see Benidorm, Spain is introducing a new 3000 space car park which will be free to use. Also plenty of free on-steet out-of season road parking, just minutes from sea front. Dorset does everything possible to make their towns less attractive to visitors.
This will encourage more people to shop in town! How out of touch with reality can the Council be!
50% increase how on earth do you justify that? just driving more and more people away from Dorset
How can this be fair to all businesses in tourism destinations?
Why are the tourists who bring revenue to the town always charged at high premium charges?
Tourists are obviously not welcome or valued so will visit other destinations in the UK, how can this council raise charges each year after visitors have moved on?
Residents are already paying maximum rates for the area they live in.
Dorset Council need to think of other ways of raising funds.
Don’t the council make enough without whacking the much maligned motorists ?
Your logic appears to be somewhat flawed. Your proposal is to charge more for on street parking than in car parks, “to generate a higher turnover of cars giving better access to businesses” as well as shops. Great idea, however, your pricing strategy is in contradiction to this, the shorter the stay, the more expensive pro rata the parking charge. One would have thought that to “generate a higher turnover of cars” short stay charges per minute should be less. For Example, the charge of on street parking in Swanage for 60 minutes (1 hour) is £0.0333° per minute, whilst parking for 120 minutes (2 hours) works out at £0.025 per minute.
I would be interested to know if any members of the Place and Resources Overview Committee have ever visited Wareham, because if they had they would know there is no charge for on street parking.
Bule !!! Attention to detail please.
Huw Davies may not know Wareham that well. There is on-street parking that is charged for at The Quay and at St Johns Hill. He may assume they are car parks but both are actually adopted highway and therefore on-street parking.
Business must be appalled at the car parking charges as they damaged their turnover as the put off people like myself on a pension that can’t afford them. I don’t mind paying a small fee to park to cover cost of parking but the more it costs to park the less I have to spend in the local businesses and my general rule is if I have to pay excessively I just dont go there.
Are you trying to drive people away from the towns? Town centres are already dying. This will be final nail in the coffin.
Why are the Weymouth charges consistently higher? Surely we should be encouraging people into our town?
Does this apply to the market square in Blandford?
£1.50 minimum instead of 40p?
Whats a BULE Badge holder? is it another free bee badge??
Why isn’t half an hour charging for £1 consistent over all the car parks, this is what you claimed you were trying to achieve. There is some consistency but it is not County wide!
Not only have on street parking charges been hiked, but the “Shoppers permits” that have been available in Dorchester have doubled in price. The pathetic excuse being peddled by the Council is that the period of stay has been increased from the 2 hours that has been the permitted period for many years.
There is a clue in the name “Shoppers” permit! Most people with those permits are more than happy with 2 hours and are not interested in longer stays, but by increasing the time allows the council to claim there is a benefit to justify the doubling in price. Do “they” REALLY think anyone is fooled??
There was I believe a “consultation” but of course we all know they are just a box ticking exercise and, if the results don’t align with the councils intentions, as in this case, then the results are simply ignored.
You need to remove the meters from shore rd, swanage and put the yellow lines back in the summer. The footpath is very narrow forcing people to walk in the rd. The rd is too narrow for buses to pass cars. It’s an accident waiting to happen. The plastic barriers Dorset council put in the road so people can get past people at the meters or round the wheelie bins look terrible.
Absolutely disgusting!
Some how I don’t think this will bring shoppers flooding in to our already dilapidated town. How can the Council be so out of touch with reality?
Absolutely disgusting to increase parking. My pension is not going up and you are charging more for your services. Shame on you.
You are just going to drive people away from town centres. Local high streets are finding it hard enough to keep going now. With shops continually going out of business and premises being left empty, this will only make it worse. You need to encourage people into the town, not drive them away.
It’s pathetic!!!! You are going to lose revenue not gain it!! These prices are extortionate yet you want Dorchester to thrive as a Market town. It’s just more tax through the back door. Spend less on Consultants to tell you what most good Civil Servants could tell you and let the local residents at least park in town without adding £2:50 for a quick couple of hours shop to their Bill. People won’t pay your new pathetic charges
It does seem inconsistent not to include a 30 minutes for £1 charge for on-street parking in Blandford and Dorchester, the same as in Station Road, Swanage. This would achieve a greater turnover of spaces, more income for Dorset Council, and would be cheaper for those users staying less than 30 minutes.
We have left Weymouth early today after a lovely weekend staying at a local campsite. After checking out of the campsite we stupidly thought we would spend the day in Weymouth and park our motorhome at Swannery car park. We found that after 16 years of doing so we can no longer park there with our motorhome being 6.7 metres, only up to 4.8 metres now permitted. We then tried 2 further car parks away from town and found this to be the same with the maximum length permitted of 6 metres. I am feeling discriminated against by owning a motorhome as found that can not even park at the coach park at Lodmoor. Wake up Council you should be helping local businesses
who on earth is going to shop in Weymouth now, or go to the cinema or
eat out in the summer. Restaurants will no longer have two sittings. One starting at 6 and another at 8 because it used to be free.
Every year I see holiday makers driving round and round because there are so few spaces in Weymouth and the cost is ridiculous for the day.
Why don’t you just put “closed” on a sign outside weymouth then no one will bother coming her. We’ve had the highest or second highest rate rises in the country for years and we get nothing in return from this council