Worthing car parking change to ‘attract more visitors’

The council has said it is reducing the parking fees for the second hour of stay at three multi-storey car parks from Monday, March 28.

The parking fees for up to two hours on Mondays to Saturdays in the Buckingham Road, Grafton and High Street car parks will be reduced to £2 from its original price of £2.30,

The Sunday rate of £2 for two hours and the fee of £1 for the first hour on any day will not change.

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, the leader of Worthing Borough Council, said: “Our high street shops have endured some incredibly tough times over the last couple of years.

“The idea in reducing the parking charges for the second hour of parking is to attract more visitors and shoppers in a bid to give a boost to those businesses in the town centre, while also bringing in some much-needed funds to improve and modernise our town’s parking facilities.”

In line with government guidance, the council has said there will be moderate increases to the tariffs for longer stays in the Buckingham Road, Grafton and High Street multi-storey car parks.

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Monday to Saturday parking for visitors for up to three hours will rise from £3.60 to £3.90, while up to four hours increases from £4.80 to £5.20, up to five hours goes up from £6 to £6.50 and all-day parking increases by £1 to £11.

On a Sunday, the maximum charge is £3 in the multi-storey car parks for the first three hours before rising to £4 for up to four hours and £5 for all-day parking.

The council has announced there will also be a small increase in the town centre workers’ tariff.

Currently, the council state that staff working in the BN11 postcode are entitled to apply for a town centre workers’ permit which caps the fee at any of the three multi-storeys.

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The current tariff is £4 for Buckingham Road and £5 for High Street and Grafton car parks, but will go up to £6 across all three car parks.

Mr Jenkins added: “The increases for longer stays are very modest and remain incredibly competitive compared to similar local authorities in the area.

“There is also a slight increase to the town centre workers’ tariff, a scheme specific to Worthing. But even with this increase, those using the scheme benefit from a 45 percent reduction in the cost of all-day parking.

“As we respond to the climate emergency we really need to be encouraging car users into more sustainable forms of transport when accessing the town.”