Major changes to parking charges in Dorset Council car parks
Hours are being extended and Sundays will no longer be free.
Big changes are being brought in over parking charges for Dorset Council car parks.
From next year - drivers using any car parks run by the local authority will be charged for parking between 8am to 8pm - Monday to Sunday.
Some council car parks were free after 6pm - so you'll now have to pay up until 8 o'clock at night.
It also sees an end to free parking in Beaminster, Blandford, Bridport, Dorchester, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Sturminster Newton on Sundays.
In Lyme Regis (Charmouth Road and Holmbush) and West Bay (East Beach, Station Yard and West Bay Road), car park charges will be increased from £2 for all day parking to £4.
The last review of charges in these popular visitor destinations was in April 2014. All other existing car park tariffs will remain unchanged at this time.
New Shoppers Permits
Alongside these changes to car parks, to support local high streets Dorset Council is exploring a potential council-wide shoppers permit.
The permit has run in West Dorset for 23 years and provides shoppers with discounted parking in short stay car parks to help them shop locally.
A shoppers' permit consultation will start this Autumn to help evaluate the proposal.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
"It became apparent at an early stage of our car parks review that charges had not been reviewed for several years and changes needed to be made for a more consistent approach.
"As a council in a challenging financial position, we are trying to achieve a delicate balance of maximising income from our car parks while ensuring residents and visitors will still choose to support our high streets, beaches and attractions.
"While we were looking at these charges before the pandemic hit, it is more important than ever to make these changes now. Through national lockdown measures, people self-isolating and temporary free parking schemes, we have lost around £2m from our car parks so far this year at a time when we need the money most."