Express & Star

Free evening and overnight parking planned to boost Dudley businesses

Evening and overnight parking charges in Dudley council-run car parks are set to be scrapped in a bid to boost night-time businesses.

Published
Flood Street car park in Dudley

Dudley Council will extend its free parking scheme across all pay and display car parks from January 2.

People visiting town centres – whether for a function, event or to eat out – will now be able to park with no charge between 7pm to 7am.

Council cabinet member, Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, said: “We want to do all we can to support businesses in our town centres – whether their core hours are during the day or evening.

“It therefore seems only right that we now go that extra mile to extend our free parking to also support our evening traders, who are crucial in helping us create a successful and thriving night time economy across all our town centres.”

The free parking can also be used overnight by residents living nearby to reduce the amount of on-street car parking in busy areas.

It follows the introduction of two hours free parking on council-run car parks between 7am and 7pm earlier this year, and this new initiative will run alongside the existing arrangements.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that earnings from parking for the council plunged from around £1.27 million to £725,000 in the space of a year.

Figures showed that the local authority made £725,974 from parking charges in 2017/18. The total was down from £1,276,765 the previous year and £1,329,990 in 2015/16.

For further information on current parking tariffs in Dudley Council car parks visit the website www.dudley.gov.uk/resident/parking-roads