Purpose

As Highway Authority, the County Council is responsible for managing on-street parking in West Sussex. This includes setting on-street parking charges at appropriate levels to deliver the County Council’s objectives for parking management, as set out in the Integrated Parking Strategy 2022-2027.

The on-street parking charges review for 2026/27 considers all on-street parking charges, including all types of parking permits, dispensation notices, suspensions, pay and display and off-street charges at Crawley Library.

The preferred option, as set out in Appendix A (Option 1 Demand Management) adjusts the on-street parking charges to make changes to the administration of the Controlled Parking Zones, to correct any imbalance that exists between the on and off-street charges in some towns, to take account of inflation and other cost increases, to manage parking demand and to help facilitate future developments in service provision.

The preferred option results in an uplift being generated that, in addition to meeting rising operational costs, will be used to support public transport and the parking service itself.  If other options are pursued then a smaller uplift is achieved, leading to an underfunding in those areas which will need to be addressed.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport has;

1)   approved the changes to on-street charges, as set out in Appendix A (Option 1) for reasons of consistency, demand management and to cover operational running costs; and

2)   authorised the Executive Director of Law, Assurance and Insight to take all necessary action to bring the proposed changes to on-street parking charges, as set out in Appendix A (Option 1), into effect from 1 October 2026.