Free Sunday car parking to end in parts of region

Sunday parking charges in parts of Cheshire will come into force this month, five months after full-time free parking ended in several areas.

Cheshire East Council is extending the charging period by four hours on weekdays and Saturdays and also bringing in charges on Sundays from 26 May.

It follows the authority bringing in fees in towns and villages which had historically had free parking.

Cheshire East Council said it had "little option" but to look at ways to increase its income as it faced financial challenges.

Users of council-owned car parks across the borough will have to pay between 08:00 and 22:00 during the week and on Saturdays.

Sunday parking charges will also come into force based on the weekday charges for each car park.

Car parks in areas such as Alsager, Audlem, Handforth, Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Poynton, Prestbury and Sandbach had previously had free parking until charges came into force in December.

One car park in each town and village has free parking after 15:00 and on-street parking bays remain free, the council said.

Protests took place in some areas ahead of the charges coming in, including outside council meetings.

In one area, Bollington, the town council agreed to pay Cheshire East to keep the car park free for users.

Cheshire East said any surplus funds from parking charges would be used in other highways and transport services, such as road maintenance and towards evening and Sunday bus services.

Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council's highways and transport committee, said: "When benchmarked against neighbouring councils, it is clear that our current parking charges are significantly lower.

"Nor do they reflect inflation as this is also only the second time parking charges have been increased since Cheshire East was formed in 2009.

"Coupled with the council's financial challenges, we have little option but to look at how we maximise our income and ensure that the charges we collect are sufficient to help cover the rising costs of maintaining, managing, and enforcing our car parks."

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