Dacorum Borough Council defends parking changes citing rising inflation

Last week controversial proposals to increase parking fees in Kings Langley and Tring were voted through.

This included changes to the restricted hours, maximum stay, and no return policies at parking centres in the area’s central districts. Some tariffs are set to increase by nearly 30%, an opposition councillor has warned.

However, Dacorum Borough Council has highlighted that this is the first time it has increased parking prices in four years and inflation has soared in the UK since then.

But critics are concerned about the impact it will have on High Street businesses operating in the district.

A petition, which can be viewed online here, was signed by over 3,300 residents. It called for the authority to re-think removing the one-hour free parking clause, arguing that it would lower footfall in the area.

Dacorum Borough Council said the changes are designed to increase the money it generates from those ‘Limited Wait’ parking bays.

Also, the authority noted that its parking charges will still remain under the public sector averages, as well as the fees charged by private companies.

Councillor Alan Johnson said: “Restricting parking to no more than one hour would seriously damage the footfall for the local, mostly independent shops which are the lifeblood of these locations and are already facing increased costs.”

He also highlighted that many shop workers will now be forced to park in other areas, potentially increasing parking on pavements in residential areas.

A spokesperson for Dacorum Borough Council said: “Following public consultation in 2023 and call-in to the Finance and Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee in November 2024, changes to parking tariffs and charging policies were approved by Members on 5 November 2024. Parking fees across the borough were last increased in 2019. Over this period, inflation has increased by almost 30 per cent. The proposed parking charges are lower than public sector averages, and local private sector parking charges. These proposals have been developed through extensive consultation with the key aims of improving consistency with parking across the borough, whilst also recognising and balancing the need to support town and village centre shops, the night-time economy across the borough and provide freedom and flexibility to shoppers.”