Southampton City Council set to bring back parking charges to raise £2m

But the fees are likely to come back despite objection from the council’s opposition amid the cost of living crisis.

Charges were first introduced in the city centre in 2013 in order to ‘encourage turnover within the parking bays’ but during the pandemic, the charges were removed to aid businesses recovery.

Plans to reinstate the charges attracted 431 objections and 128 submissions in support during a consultation.

One objector said: “It’s expensive enough as it is to go out. Pay for bridge. Pay for parking. Pay for fuel. You’re all taking the Mick wanting more.

“If a family or a couple want to go out in the evening for a treat they shouldn’t have to find an extra few quid on top to pay for parking when the town centre is empty at night.”

Another objector added: “At a time where energy bills have become extortionate and high petrol prices, do you really think it's a good time to add more misery? It’ll become a ghost town.”

READ MORE: Objections raised to Southampton City Council's free evening parking scheme

Cllr Eamonn Keogh

Councillor Eamonn Keogh, Cabinet Member for Transport and District Regeneration, said the rationale for implementing the charges nine years ago still stands today.

Cllr Keogh said it would help manage demand and try to persuade residents in the city centre not to own more than one car.

He hopes the move will also push people to alternative transport.

He said: “What we are trying to do is support that modal shift and encourage people to consider other alternatives.”

This plan is aimed at embracing a greener way of living in Southampton.

Charges for on-street parking will be in force from 6pm to 8pm, Monday to Saturday.

The fees for on-street parking will be: 50p for up to 30 minutes, £1 for an hour, £1.50 for 90 minutes and £2 for up to two hours.

Off-street parking will be enforced from 6pm to midnight, Monday to Saturday.

The council has also said a maximum £2 charge "represents a small proportion of the costs associated with an evening out".

Bringing back the parking charges will generate just under £2m for the council by the end of 2025.

Last Thursday’s scrutiny management committee saw the majority of council’s Tory opposition oppose the idea, with committee chair Councillor David Fuller claiming the reinstatement is simply ‘a stick to beat people coming to town in a car’.

Cllr Fuller spoke of the ‘vulnerable’ night-time workers in the city centre who may finish work and find ‘no buses running to where they live’.

He said: “Five hundred pounds a year added to their bills at a time of growing inflation (and) energy prices going up. Do we think this is the right time to be doing this?”

Cllr Keogh said the reinstatement would be ‘good for the city economically’, ‘good for individual socially’, and ‘good for us environmentally’.

A decision on the move will made by the council's cabinet in due course.

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