![\"Kingsdown](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12748106.jpg\")
Kingsdown Residents Parking Scheme(Image: JON KENT\/BNM)<\/p>\nIt’ll be harder to have friends park up and visitKingsdown Residents Parking Scheme(Image: JON KENT\/BNM)<\/p>\n
People living within one of Bristol\u2019s Residents’ Parking Zones will find it harder to get visitor permits for family and friends who come to stay – and they\u2019ll have to pay for the privilege too, the city council has announced.<\/p>\n
The council said it wants to make it harder for people to have visitors come and park within their RPZ so that they are \u2018encouraged\u2026to consider alternative, more sustainable travel options\u2019.<\/p>\n
Bristol City Council<\/a> has begun a month-long formal consultation on a raft of changes to the way the RPZ schemes work, which are all designed to make it harder to park within an RPZ unless you have a permit.<\/p>\n The city-wide changes will also see a tweak to the way people can pay to park within some parts of some RPZs. At the moment drivers can get a free ticket from a pay and display machine to park for half an hour within many RPZs, but the proposal is that this free option will only be available through the cashless RingGo parking app.<\/p>\n The biggest change will be to the way visitors’ permits will be available. At the moment, anyone living within an RPZ who has a permit for their own vehicle can book or get in advance a certain number of free permits for visitors, and more if they pay. People can get one-off visitors permits for unexpected guests.<\/p>\n The council\u2019s proposal is to reduce the overall number of visitors permits available to each resident by 50 per cent, only make them available in bundles of ten, and make people pay for all of them.<\/p>\n At present, people living in different RPZ areas are entitled to a total of between 100 and 140 visitor permits every year, both free and ones that have to be paid for. The council proposal is to reduce that by half in each area, to limit it to between 50 and 70, and end all the free permits.<\/p>\n The current charge for visitors’ permits that have to be paid for is \u00a31.30 per permit. The proposal is to only have them available in bundles of ten, which will cost \u00a320 – so \u00a32 each – or \u00a325 in three of the RPZ areas – Clifton<\/a> East, Clifton Village and Kingsdown.<\/p>\n A third tweak will see an end to all the free electric vehicle business permits across all the residents parking zone areas.<\/p>\n The council consultation on the measures begins today, Tuesday December 16, and will run for a month. People have until Wednesday, January 14, to formally object.<\/p>\n What does the council say?<\/p>\n A council spokesperson explained why the three measures are being brought in. \u201cThese amendments are intended to support the council\u2019s transport policy objectives, including promoting sustainable travel, improving air quality and ensuring the efficient use of kerbside space,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n The change to pay and display free tickets \u2018is designed to improve enforcement which will help reduce misuse and ensure that short stay spaces are used as intended – supporting higher turnover and allowing more people to park near local amenities\u2019, the council spokesperson added.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Calls to stop resident parking zones expansion and \u2018spend \u00a35m CAZ money on buses\u2019<\/a>READ MORE: Cost of permits for Bristol resident parking zones to double<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cBy reducing misuse and enhancing enforcement and compliance, the council aims to ensure fairer access to limited kerbside space,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n On the ending of free visitor permits, and the reduction in their number for each resident, the council said: \u201cCharged visitors\u2019 permits are proposed to increase in line with inflation but they will still cost much less than Pay and Display rates particularly because visitors would be able to stay for any duration for the price of one hour\u2019s Pay and Display parking.<\/p>\n \u201cVisitors\u2019 permits will be issued in packs of ten only. The option to purchase single or individual visitor permits will be removed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reduction in the number of visitors\u2019 permits is expected to encourage residents and their visitors to consider alternative, more sustainable travel options,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n And the ending of the free permits for electric vehicles owned by businesses, the council said, \u2018aligns with the recent removal of a similar concession for EV Residents\u2019 Permits and national changes to vehicle excise duty\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the number of qualifying vehicles rising significantly, the council must ensure more equitable access to parking and make changes to policies that reflect the evolving landscape of EV incentives,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n![\"Proposed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_RPZ-proposal-table.jpg\")
Proposed changes to the way visitors’ permits are available within Bristol’s Residents Parking Scheme zones – December 2025(Image: Bristol City Council)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_TCR_BRI231121parkingBRIJPG.jpg\")
A parking spot in Southville appears to be outside the area’s Residents Parking Zone, but local resident Sarah Elvins keeps being ticketed by Bristol City Council(Image: Bristol Live)<\/p>\n