The cost of parking in Spalding is set to go up in some areas from the end of the month.
South Holland District Council announced the changes via its social media channels at 5pm last Friday.
The cost of parking in Westlode Street will rise to £3 a day from the current £1 and the Sheep Market will rise to £1 an hour from 80p.
The authority also set in stone its policy for parking in the council-owned car parks to be free in the evenings (from 8pm in Herring Lane and 6pm elsewhere), on Sundays and bank holidays.
The council’s message said the move came following consultation last year it was “sharing a decision to make changes.”
It said the announcement was “helping to keep spaces in Spalding’s short-stay car parks available for shoppers and to offer more opportunities to park and use the town’s facilities for free at certain times.”
There were, says a council report, 40 replies to a public consultation, which had a rocky start when a council email address was wrong.
Some 13 councillors were among those expressing an opinion, while 25 were from residents and two from voluntary groups.
“There were several representations relating to free parking and that it should be available in view of the economic situation arising from the pandemic,” says the report. Submissions included free parking for the first two hours, free parking on Tuesday and Saturday and some free car parks.
The council will have a further report on charges for Gore Lane and the dry-side of the Castle Sports Complex.
A decision to defer the proposals for those two sites will allow for “consideration to be given to the representations relating to the possibility for free parking periods,” the report says.
Objections to the original announcement last autumn included those from the town’s bowls club as users will receive a permit, but visitors will have to pay, although that move has been deferred.
Another objector suggested charging council officers for parking at Priory Road and reference was made to the increase in Council Tax alongside higher charges.
“Approval of the recommendations will provide more consistency to the hours of operation and charges for the car parks by aligning Westlode Street more closely with the charges in the council-owned car parks and putting one hour charge for Sheep Market in line with our other car parks.
This consistency will make it easier to use our car parks,” it adds.
“Research has shown that the tariff of a car park is not the main factor for users when deciding which car park to use,” the report adds.
But Coun Angela Newton said the move showed the consultation was pointless.
“It sounds as though it has been another meaningless ‘consultation’. Let’s hear what the people say and ignore most of it,” she said.
