Posted on 28th Mar
Newark and Sherwood District Council is introducing free 30 minutes car parking for its three inner town car parks in Newark from 8th April.
The car parks at Town Wharf, Appleton Gate and London Road/Balderton Gate will allow users to obtain a free 30-minute ticket at the parking machines.
The tickets must be displayed, otherwise a penalty charge notice could be issued.
The council hopes the move will encourage residents to park in its inner town centre car parks to visit their favourite independent retailer or local market trader within the 30-minute window.
The council said that unlike many other districts, boroughs, towns, and cities across the UK, the wider charges for the use of Newark’s car parks have not been reviewed for 10 years, with the last increase in tariffs across all the authority’s car parks being in 2015.
The price for one-hour parking across all inner town and out of town car parks will remain the same. A small increase is being implemented for car parking charges of more than one hour, ranging from 20p at outer town car parks to a 50p increase at the inner town car parks for stays longer than four hours. Season tickets are also increasing in line with these changes.
Sanjiv Kohli, deputy chief executive and director of resources at the council, said: “Our car parks are managed and maintained to a high standard and we have recently made several improvements to these, including to the lighting and CCTV. We will also be replacing parking machines to improve the customer experience and to ensure value for money and peace of mind for those who drive to Newark and leave their vehicles in our car parks.
“We hope residents will take advantage of the free 30 minutes, allowing them to make those quick trips to a town centre shop or market stall for their daily essentials. It is not something we have offered before and we look forward to reviewing how this change is being received.
“I am also particularly pleased that we can, once again, freeze the charge for parking for up to one hour in our inner and outer town car parks.”
