{"id":507624,"date":"2025-10-17T20:02:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507624\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T20:02:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:02:24","slug":"parking-charges-coming-to-the-downs-under-bristol-city-council-budget-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507624\/","title":{"rendered":"Parking charges coming to the Downs under Bristol City Council budget plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The new pay-and-display meters are expected to bring in \u00a3200,000 a year<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_BRI_PG_280325bristol_van-24.jpg\" alt=\"Van dwellers and caravans on sides of roads in Bristol\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Van dwellers and caravans on sides of roads in Bristol(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">Parking charges will be introduced on the Downs under plans to raise money in <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/bristol-city-council\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol City Council<\/a>\u2019s annual budget.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">The new pay-and-display meters are expected to bring in \u00a3200,000 a year after their introduction from April 2027, while another proposal to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/news\/bristol-news\/evening-parking-cost-more-bristol-10050104\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">charge drivers across the city a standard fixed hourly parking rate<\/a> instead of the current mishmash of fees, especially for evening and overnight stays, is forecast to generate \u00a3500,000 annually.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">Both plans have gone out to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristol.gov.uk\/ask\/find-consultation-engagement\/consultation-engagement?id=259\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">public consultation in the organisation\u2019s draft financial plans<\/a> for 2026\/27 \u2013 and they have been previously controversial when discussed by Bristol city councillors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">Last December, members on the transport and connectivity committee warned the proposed new parking charges on <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/clifton\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Clifton<\/a> and Durdham Downs could <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/news\/bristol-news\/parking-charges-clifton-downs-could-9777009\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cinflame tensions\u201d between residents and van dwellers<\/a>, so the idea was sent to a cross-party taskforce looking into a wider parking and kerbside strategy to assess the pros and cons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">Concerns were also raised about displacing parking onto neighbouring streets which would remain free to park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">Then in March 2025, the committee narrowly <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/news\/bristol-news\/evening-parking-cost-more-bristol-10050104\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">voted in favour of fixed \u201clinear\u201d hourly fees<\/a> in <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/all-about\/bristol-city-centre\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol city centre<\/a> and some council-owned car parks but members were split 5-3.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">The decision, which now forms part of the council\u2019s budget, will increase charges from 6pm to 10pm to \u00a36.80 from the current \u00a34.50 flat fee, but this was less than the initial proposed hike of \u00a32.70 an hour, totalling \u00a310.80 from 6pm to 10pm, following a pushback at the meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\" publication=\"bristolpost\">Residents can give their views on these and the authority\u2019s other cuts and money-raising ideas at the consultation which is open for six weeks <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristol.gov.uk\/ask\/find-consultation-engagement\/consultation-engagement?id=259\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new pay-and-display meters are expected to bring in \u00a3200,000 a yearVan dwellers and caravans on sides of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,3893,748,18959,393,4884,14144,285,16,15,961],"class_list":{"0":"post-507624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-council","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-clifton","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-green-party","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-your-money"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115391296484646558","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}