Purple bay rate doubles in first change for a decade, says council.
Parking charges in Milton Keynes city centre will change next week, doubling the cost of leaving your car in a standard (purple) bay for the first two hours. Charges for the premium (red) bays and for the E1 employee daily permit also rise.
The changes were first announced last November and were followed by a wave of protest. A 1000-name petition from local people urged the council to shelve the plans, but they were given the go-ahead. It's the first change to fees for almost a decade, says the council.
The two-hour minimum stay period in standard bays becomes £2, up from the current £1, with the hourly rate thereafter unchanged at 50p per hour. The one-hour minimum stay period in premium bays becomes £2.50 – currently £2 – with the hourly rate thereafter unchanged at £2 per hour.
The E1 employee permit daily charge becomes £3 for a whole day (currently £2.80) or £2 for five hours (currently £1.40).
Car share, hotel and conference permits have been removed, due to their limited use, says the council. Car share permit applications have fallen by nearly 90% in the last five years.
“The new tariffs still mean that Milton Keynes remains competitive compared to other similar city centre parking such as Northampton or Bedford centres which cost £2 per hour to park,” said a council spokesperson.
“The changes align the cost of parking closer to that of bus travel as part of wider work to encourage more passengers onto public transport. For most journeys in Milton Keynes the bus fare to the city centre is £2 for a single trip.”
But Peter Geary, the Conservative Olney Ward councillor, disagrees.
“The council are just trying to find reasons to put up the parking charges,” he said. “And this is not the first change for a decade – they made a significant number of changes to electric parking bays and changed the minimum time you can park in a bay. It used to be 15 minutes, but now you have to pay for a minimum of an hour.
“More than 1000 traders and shoppers signed a petition against this, but it was dismissed by the council, which is pretty disrespectful to the people. It’s nothing to do with getting people into buses, it’s about raising revenue.”
