TODAY (Wednesday) is the last day for residents to have their say about Cheshire East’s plans to introduce evening and Sunday parking charges on council-owned car parks.
The consultation for this latest round of changes to parking charges ends at midnight (Wednesday, October 9).
The council is proposing to extend charges at its car parks to 10pm, and to charge on Sundays – the tariffs for which would be in line with the rates for the rest of the week.
In a statement released when the consultation was launched, Cllr Mark Goldsmith (Ind), chair of the highways and transport committee, said: “All our car parks need maintenance, management, and enforcement and the financial impact of this doesn’t pause after a certain time or on Sundays.
“The related costs are significant and continue to rise.
“The proposals we are now consulting on will help to reduce some of that financial burden.
“It could potentially provide up to £2m over the next four years to support other council services, such as highways maintenance, bus services and active travel schemes. Therefore, we cannot ignore this option, and so are consulting on the idea.”
Cheshire East says a final decision on evening and Sunday charging will be subject to the outcome of the consultation and that ‘all representations will be considered’.
It is not yet known when that decision will be made or when the new charges will come in, if that is the decision reached.
In the meantime, the council is installing meters on car parks in towns and villages across the borough where parking was previously free.
The highways committee voted in January to introduce parking charges in areas such as Alsager, Middlewich, Sandbach and Holmes Chapel.
These charges are expected to be implemented soon but have not been introduced yet.
To take part in the consultation on evening and Sunday charges email carparksreview2024@cheshireeast.gov.uk and use ‘Variation 12’ as the email subject header.
More information about this consultation is available here
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