Huge parking changes approved for Brighton and Hove
It's to address a drop in revenue caused by day-trippers staying away
A six-year plan to make changes to parking prices and strategies more sustainable has secured backing from council cabinet members.
In the short term, Brighton and Hove City Council’s focus is a forecast deficit of £1 million in parking revenue from its projected £45.5 million income.
It aims to tackle this in part by reducing fees in some council-owned car parks where demand has dropped.
A report to the council’s cabinet meeting yesterday (Thursday 26 September) proposed changing tariffs.
It said that visitor numbers had risen to 11 million a year but parking income had not increased to match.
Opposition councillors and campaigners criticised the council for releasing details of the lower prices on Tuesday (24 September), two days before the meeting
Brighton Active Travel said that it was disappointed to see the changes announced before the cabinet had made its decision.
The campaign group said: “We know a resident who’d submitted a question for cabinet. They’re wondering if they should bother.
“We too are disappointed but when democracy and transparency get binned it’s not surprising that the public has no confidence in its elected representatives.”
Green opposition leader Steve Davis,who used to chair the now-defunct Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said that the situation was “anti-democratic”.
He said: “I’ve seen people from Bricycles and other outside pressure groups bemoaning the fact they write questions to come to committee when decisions are clearly already made.
“I’m a massive proponent of the committee system because it gives people a bigger voice to be heard and decisions can be changed.
“It’s anti-democratic. We need a more open and more transparent administration.”
Councillor Davis said that more time was needed to read the cabinet papers because opposition councillors and the public did not have enough time to scrutinise the reports which came out late on Wednesday 18 September.
The council’s cabinet member for transport, parking and the public realm, Trevor Muten, said that there was a four-week lead in to implement the tariff changes, depending on the outcome of the meeting.
Councillor Davis asked about the cost of external consultants used for the parking review and the costs of bringing back pay and display machines. The consultancy fee was £60,000 and the machines cost £6,000.
The Greens also criticised the reduced parking charges, saying that they wanted to see fewer cars coming into Brighton and Hove.
Outside the meeting, Councillor Davis said: “I felt a bit confused. I read the opening paragraph (of the report) and it said visitor numbers are up.
“What local councillor in a seaside resort doesn’t want to hear that after the years we’ve suffered with the pandemic and the recession.
“As a Green, hearing the phrase people are coming to the city and not coming as much in cars is fantastic because parking fee charges are down.
“We’re in a climate emergency, we’ve got roads that are full of potholes, we’ve got air that’s full of pollution, we’ve got people that are scared to let their children cycle to school, so that’s fantastic news.
“What really confuses me is the report says high charges have been a deterrent to people coming to the city. Those two statements contradict themselves. We can’t have more visitors with less cars?”
When introducing the parking review, Councillor Muten said that drivers were treated as “cash cows” to “milk” at every opportunity.
He reminded the cabinet that in July 2023 the new Labour administration scrapped the trebling of parking charges around the Royal Sussex County Hospital. The higher charges hit key workers and people visiting sick relatives during the “cost of living crisis”.
He said: “Parking prices have increased year upon year, notably steeply rising over the past five years.
“Now seen as one of the most expensive local authorities on average parking fees, yet strikingly no previous administration stepped back to see how parking citywide fits together. It’s time for a reset.”
The deputy leader of the council, Jacob Taylor, said that the review was an important piece of work for the visitor economy.
Councillor Taylor, who leads on finance, said: “The flaw in the previous policy – to put up parking fees exponentially every year and then be shocked when the revenues fall and we no longer have the revenue.
“It’s interesting to me that Green councillors in the city are being quite transparent that they wanted to do that to stop people coming and parking.
“Of course, you’re not stopping people who have large incomes and posh cars coming in. You’re stopping people who can’t afford it. It’s a flat tax. There’s no progressivity in a flat rate of parking.”
The short-term action plan approved includes
review signs to promote PayPoint
reduce fees for underused parking areas
introduce paid parking in some light-touch areas
bring in weekend parking tariffs
ensure charges in parks are similar to surrounding parking zone
continue with financial recovery plan
In the medium term 2025, the council is considering a trial of virtual permits and offering “displacement permits” for use in neighbouring parking zones.
Proposals also include renaming car parks after nearby attractions and trying to attract commuters to the under-used London Road car park.
By 2027, the council is looking to reduce the number of emission categories for all permits to two.
The council hopes to be able to enforce pavement parking rules if the government changes the law and to align on-street and off-street charges.
By 2030, the aim is to explore charges based on vehicle size, create or merge new parking zones, simplify restrictions and bring in more red routes.