The price of parking permits and on-street pay and display tickets across Norfolk could be about to go up.
At a time when the cost of living crisis and rising energy bills is heaping pressure on households, people could be asked to pay more to park their cars.
Members of the Norfolk Parking Partnership Joint Committee will be asked to agree a review of permit and on-street parking charges at a meeting on Tuesday (February 8).
The Norfolk Parking Partnership and the separate Norwich City Civil Parking Enforcement scheme rely on cash from pay and display parking, residential permits and penalty charge notices to offset costs of running the service, including for enforcement officers.
And officers are recommending a review of costs. Apart from in Norwich, they have not been formally reviewed or increased since 2009.
That means a parking permit in areas other than Norwich costs £40 a year. Had the price kept pace with inflation, they would cost £54.21.
But a report by officers recommends those are also reviewed to "provide a more consistent Norfolk-wide approach and alignment of tariffs that also keep pace with inflation".
A review of on-street pay and display parking, which is available in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn is also mooted.
In Great Yarmouth, it costs £3 or £4.50 for up to four hours and £5 or £7.50 for four to 10 hours.
In King's Lynn, where only a small number of roads have on-street pay and display, the first hour is free.
After that, it is £2.50 for one to two hours, £3 for two to two-and-a-half hours and £3.50 for two-and-a-half to a maximum of three hours.
In Norwich city centre, there are two bands. Band A is £2.50 per hour (£1 for the first 15 minutes, followed by 50p per 15 minutes afterwards), while Band B is £1.70 per hour (80p for the first 15 minutes and 30p for each 15 minutes after that).
Martin Wilby, county council cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, also chair of the Norfolk Parking Partnership, said: “We need good on-street parking enforcement to help to make sure kerbside bays are free for people wishing to pop into a local business, that inconsiderate on-street parking doesn’t snarl up our town centres, and blue badge spaces are available for those who need them most.
“A review of tariffs which help towards the cost of running this essential service has been proposed, but no decisions have been made as yet and I look forward to discussing this with Norfolk Parking Partnership partners.”
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