Free parking scheme in Derbyshire town set to be scrapped - and sleeping in your vehicle in car park could be banned
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Amber Valley Borough Council is planning a wide range of changes to its current car parking charges and schemes, largely to bring all sites onto the same policies.
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Hide AdUnder the plans, which are to go out to public consultation, the existing buy one hour get an hour free scheme in Heanor – at Whysall Street, Wilmot Street and Ilkeston Road – would be scrapped and switched to the borough’s regular charging scheme.
Current car park charges for sites run by the council are 60p for 30 minutes, 90p for an hour, £1.40 for two hours, £2.40 for four hours, £5.80 for more than four hours and £1.50 for 6pm until midnight.
The council also says it intends to bring in an order banning people from sleeping overnight in their vehicles in off-street car parks.
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Hide AdMeanwhile, parking tickets would not be transferable from car park to car park and the charging hours for Belper River Gardens would be broadened from 10am to 8am, to bring it in line with all other council sites.
The council also says: “When considering future changes to parking strategy and pricing, the council will need to seek an appropriate balance between supporting the economic growth of the town centres whilst transitioning to a low carbon future and the council’s stated aim to become carbon neutral by 2030.”
It also intends to bring in an “event facilitation tariff” for all of its off-street car parks “to support the delivery of land for town centre regeneration events when combined with closure or partial closure of car parks on temporary basis”.
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Hide AdThis would allow car parks to be closed without consultation required, subject to event procedures.
The current evening charging rates would be “reprofiled”, the council says, with a flat rate to be introduced, with an aim for a “user-friendly charge tariff for those staying across the day and evening”.
Alongside this, more Pay by Phone charging facilities would be installed to allow people to use their mobile phones to pay for parking, with the council allocating nearly half a million pounds to be spent on this and a 100-space expansion of the Field Lane car park in Belper in September 2020.
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Hide AdThe council says it has not carried out a parking review in 12 years – since 2012 – but has brought in four changes during that time for free residents parking permits, enhanced permits for further free parking, an hour free parking in Heanor and the partial roll-out of contactless card payment machines.
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