Free parking scrapped by council in new plan

Free parking at council-run car parks has been scrapped in a district after controversial plans were approved.

Babergh District Council in Suffolk voted in favour of changes to parking fees to help offset a £6.7m budget gap predicted for 2027-28.

A £1 charge for short-stay parking for the first hour - or £1 for two hours in long stay - could be introduced in areas including Sudbury, Hadleigh and Lavenham from October.

The proposals have received criticism and a petition against the plans had more than 8,000 signatures.

During a council meeting on Monday, councillors backed the scrapping of free parking by six to two.

The council previously said it picked up a bill of more than £400,000 in relation to stays under three hours at its car parks across the three towns.

It proposed charging £1 for two hours of "long-stay parking", which would increase by 50p for each additional hour used.

Other changes include the cost of all-day parking in Sudbury and Hadleigh being reduced from £3 to £2.50, and the Great Eastern Road and Magdalen Road sites being turned into long-stay parking areas.

The changes are expected to take about six months to implement, coming into effect from October, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

However, a council report warned the extra money generated was not enough to plug the overall projected budget gap and could lead to more difficult decisions being made.

The proposal has been criticised by several parish and district councillors as well as residents, who raised concerns the change could "further reduce the number of customers, employees and viability of retail businesses in the above town centres".

Babergh District Council leader David Busby previously said: "We have said all along that we would rather not have to introduce short-term parking charges, and that, if we have to do so, we will ensure that they are modest, fair, and that we take on board suggestions and feedback from the communities affected.

"There is no escaping the fact that we face a significant financial challenge ahead."

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