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Parking on Portsmouth streets free after six
Drivers can park for free on Portsmouth roads after 6pm.
That was the decision this week by Cllr Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council's new cabinet member for traffic and transportation.
Until now, the cut-off time for on-street pay-and-display parking varied, depending on the location. Some spaces were free after 5pm, while others had charges until 8pm.
Cllr Stagg rejected a plan to extend charges to 10pm or even 24 hours a day on some roads. Instead, she decided all on-street parking should be free after 6pm.
"I wanted to standardise things so anyone coming into the city would know they can park on the streets for free after 6pm," she said.
"I felt that in the current financial climate, with the cost of fuel so high, it was just unfair to extend parking charges.
"And I was particularly against the idea of charging during the evening along the seafront. After all, we promote Portsmouth as the premier waterfront city.
"Extending the charges would have helped the council pay for services, but our transport finances are looking healthier than we thought they would at this point.
"I do feel we should all use our cars less, and will be working on improving public transport and setting up park-and-ride schemes. But on this point I felt a standard 6pm cut-off for on-street parking charges was right."
Cllr Stagg will now be working with officers on a start time for on-street parking charges. One suggestion is a standard 8am start.
The council will allow free on-street parking after 6pm immediately, and will also start work on changing parking signs and other notices.
The 6pm cut-off does not apply to off-street parking, i.e. council-run car parks.
Date : 12 June 2008
