Proposals amended for car parking charges following public consultation

Newcastle City Council has confirmed that charges for car parking in the city centre will be extended until 7pm. This follows on from proposals to charge until 10pm which the council has reviewed following feedback from the public.

As part of the changes, the council will also extend parking charges up to 7pm for on-street bays and surface car parks within the core city centre.  And on Sundays, drivers will pay a standard hourly rate, rather than the £3 per day fixed charge.

Parking outside of the core city centre area are not affected by these changes, with the exception of Manors and Quayside multi-storeys, which will see parking charges extended by an hour to 6pm.

Currently parking in the council’s city centre main car parks is free from 5pm until 10pm, which was funded by NE1. The Alive after Five funding has been withdrawn, which prompted the council to review car parking in the city centre, to better manage demand as well as promote more sustainable ways of travel.

Cllr Jane Byrne, cabinet member for a connected, clean city , said: “We’ve listened to the feedback from the public, and looked again at how we can better manage parking in the city centre and still create a greener and more sustainable city, which works for everyone.

“This means balancing the needs of lots of competing demands, including changes to how people shop and businesses operate since the pandemic, and we believe that these changes will help us to achieve the right balance.”

Proposals to charge until 10pm in city centre multi-storey car parks were set out last November. These changes were subject to statutory consultation which was completed in mid-April.

The consultation generated a high volume of responses, including around 650 objections and 25 in favour of the proposals, which had to be carefully considered before reaching a final decision. Some of the issues raised included the impact on the city centre economy, lack of public transport in the evening, as well as feelings of personal safety.

The new charges will come into force in the coming weeks once the council has completed the statutory processes and updated signage across all car parks. It is expected this will be completed by August 2022.