Parking in Mole Valley’s Car Parks

Parking improvements to be financed, in part, by below inflation increase in parking fees

The Lib Dem administration at Pippbrook is investing £1 million pounds in improvements and essential maintenance to Mole Valley's car parks. Depending on the car park and its needs, the refurbishment fund will deliver new surfacing and markings, lighting improvements, new railings and footways, structural improvements, and the Electric Vehicle Charge Point roll-out.

To help finance this, the charge for parking will go up to £1.10 per hour from September. This will be a new flat rate for both cash and Ringgo. It is the first increase since 2018 and is less than the rate of inflation for the period. However, anyone who uses Ringgo to pay will see a 2p reduction in cost for the first hour, because there will no longer be an extra charge for users of the service. That means, despite the rise in base price, nearly 50% of users will actually pay less for an hour's parking.

The Council is also introducing a new permit system from April that will significantly benefit 80% of users. For most residents and businesses, the monthly permit price will reduce to £56 from £85. In addition, there will be Low Paid Worker Permits at £15 per month to support retail, hospitality and care workers.

The continuation of more people working from home for at least part of the week is also being recognised with new flexible permits available pro rata at no extra cost e.g. a permit for 2 days per week.

Cabinet Member, Councillor Clayton Wellman, said, "Not surprisingly, our car parks have been used less than normal in the last two years resulting in a drop in income. This has affected the Council's ability to fund necessary maintenance work and improvements. Much as we'd all like to keep parking charges frozen, this has made a carefully measured increase in the parking charge essential. With that extra money, we will be able to bring the car parks to the standard that residents expect and which makes our town and village centres attractive to visitors."

"I am also delighted that we are able to support residents and local businesses by reducing the permit cost and creating a much more flexible system for so many people who don't have off-street parking and therefore need to use the Council's car parks on a regular basis."

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