Councillors to vote on plan to introduce parking fees to Silchester car park

Parking fees are set to be introduced in a Silchester car park in a bid to raise cash.

Hampshire County Council is proposing the fees in rural car parks that have 20 or more spaces and generate an estimated £65,000 per year, as it seeks to plug an anticipated budget gap of £132m over a two-year period.

It has already found savings of £90.4m but increases in demand for adults and children social care, special educational needs and school transport means the gap by the end of 2025/26 is expected to be £175m.

The council says a 40-space rural car park costs around £1,100 a year to maintain. It currently charges at country park sites, and in a Fleet car park.

Profits from the fees – estimated to be around £65,000 per year – will then be ploughed back into countryside services.

The proposal follows a consultation last summer, in which 48 per cent of respondents said they agreed with the proposals to pay to park, while 41 per cent disagreed.

More than 4,000 people took part, after notices were put up in the 10 car parks that the council was considering for the new fees.

Four in five respondents felt the first hour should be free, while the amount felt appropriate for a two-hour stay was between £1.80 and £2.10.

Documents sent to councillors noted: “While this does not indicate a strong level of agreement with the principle of charging for rural countryside car parking, it does suggest some agreement that the county council should investigate this potential means of income generation to offset service costs.”

The car park in Wall Lane, Silchester, is among the sites put forward for the charges.

Under the plans, fees would be structured to favour short-term use, such as dog walkers, and to deter longer stays such as parking for commuting.

“The county council would look to ensure that charges are reasonable and in-keeping with other district/borough council charges and opportunities would be investigated to mitigate this impact such as the offer of a season ticket to bring the cost down for regular visitors, or an initial free period, if commercially viable,” the documents note.

Councillors will be asked to approve the report when the universal services select committee meets on Tuesday, September 10, from 10am.

It is open to the public, and the meeting will be webcast live on YouTube.

For the meeting agenda and to read the report councillors will be asked to vote on, log on to democracy.hants.gov.uk

If councillors approve, the charges will be introduced from April next year, and fees reviewed annually.