Controversial plans to end free parking in Midsomer Norton and Radstock and charge motorbikes to park in Bath are being put before the public.
Bath and North East Somerset Council wants to make £195,000 by rolling out its “emissions based” parking charges to more locations and upping the prices at Bath car parks. The currently free South Road car park in Midsomer Norton and Church Street and Waterloo Road car parks in Radstock will get the new charges under the plan.
Emissions based charges will also be rolled out to all on street pay and display locations in Bath, all council car parks in Keynsham, the Shallows car park at the Saltford beauty spot, and hotel parking permits. Current car parking prices in Bath will also go up under the plans and motorbikes and other DVLA-registered two and three wheeled vehicles will need to pay to park too for the first time.
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Emissions based parking was first introduced in council car parks in Bath in September 2023. Pay and display machines look up a vehicle’s emissions from the DVLA and charge based on how much carbon is emitted or, if this information is not available, the capacity of the engine.
The most new charges would be introduced in October 2024 and go up again in October 2025, while on street charges in Bath would go up in January 2025 and again in 2026. But first the plans are going out for public consultation so people can have their say, which will run until August 8.
Charges will increase by 10p per hour for the least polluting vehicles but, because charges depend on emissions, some vehicles may pay more. For the least polluting vehicles, the overnight parking charge in Bath car parks will go up by £1 and evening parking at Charlotte Street would go up by £1 in October 2024 and £1.30 in October 2025. The three hour and 24 hour tariffs in Baths park and rides would go up by 50p.
Car parks in Midsomer Norton and Radstock will be priced at the same level as car parks in Keynsham. The charges in both locations will apply from 8am to 6pm Monday to Saturday inclusive, with the first half hour free. The maximum time you can park in the Church Street and Waterloo Road car parks in Radstock will remain five hours.
Manda Rigby, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “Our review of parking charges across Bath and North East Somerset was agreed in February as part of setting the council’s budget for the coming financial year. We are now asking for people’s comments on the wider roll out of proposed emission-based charges across Bath and North East Somerset
“Our aim is to improve air quality, reduce congestion and encourage other ways to travel across Bath and North East Somerset and these proposals would be another step in the right direction to achieve this.
“We know the effect pollutants from vehicle emissions have, and this is one of a number of policies we’ve implemented to improve air quality and encourage more people to use sustainable transport, like Bath’s Clean Air Zone and our liveable neighbourhoods.”
But traders in Midsomer Norton and Radstock have warned the plans to end their free parking could “kill the town.” One shop owner on Midsomer Norton High Street who commutes from Frome said she would shut up shop if she had to pay parking charges every day. She said: “I’m not going to pay to park where I run a business.”
At a council scrutiny panel in March, Shaun Hughes (Midsomer Norton North, Independent) said that Midsomer Norton did not have the same air quality problem as Bath. He added: “In Midsomer Norton, a lot of our residents can’t afford an electric car. They can’t afford the latest fuel efficient vehicles. Some of them have to drive a 20-year-old diesel Astra.
“They don’t want to; that’s what they have to drive to be able to get around to do their job — and you’re penalising them.”
Ms Rigby said: “A lot of people who are very low income have no vehicle whatsoever and they are breathing in other people’s pollution. I think it’s fair that we protect those people as well.”
You can respond to the consultation and see more details about the charges in the car parks you use here.
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