Car Parks Consultation FAQs

Did you Know?

1. The current proposals include a tap-in tap-out contactless payment method so that users won't be restricted to a pre-determined length of stay as they would be charged on the tap-out (if there is no tap-out, then the day rate will be charged).
2. The current proposals would see a free period in at least one car park in every town.
3. The council is considering a fair permit system for business workers and residents and will use the consultation data to help design it.
4. For many years, the Council has held off introducing car parking charges, but unfortunately, financial pressures are forcing it to look at how all its services are financed, which is part of a wider cost-saving plan.
5. Car parks are treated nationally as businesses, and we must pay business rates. For Breckland, this costs around £150k a year.
6. 300 of the 330 councils in the country charge for parking (and some of those who don't have recently proposed it, including the only other council in Norfolk that doesn't charge).
7. A breakdown of Brecklands £450,000 costs attributed to the car parks is as follows:
   • 44% non-routine maintenance (resurfacing etc.)
   • 33% business rates
   • 8% for staffing costs
   • 5% for winter works
   • 7% is for annual repairs and routine maintenance
   • 3% is for services (water/power/waste collection).
8. The introduction of any new parking system can impact displacement, but recent studies on other similar-sized market towns have shown that any displacement would be short-lived. Breckland would work with other car parking providers to mitigate this.
9. The most important considerations for drivers when choosing where to park have been researched and concluded as 1) location, 2) availability of spaces, 3) if they have to pay (and consideration 3 is lessened if the tariff rate is less than £1 an hour).
10. Breckland hasn't asked, "Do you want parking charges to be introduced?" The questionnaire was carefully designed to obtain quantifiable data to inform us what a charging model might look like if introduced. We also included an open text box (Q9) to gauge public opinion on the proposals.
11. Over 1/3 of Brecklands car parks have significant overcapacity issues restricting churn into the high streets.
12. These proposals are for cost recovery as local authorities are restricted from only spending car park income on:
    • The car parks
    • The highways around the car parks
    • Environmental matters relating to the car parks
13. This isn't a done deal; the council has only decided to look into a charging model. The decision to implement such a model is expected once the consultation report has been received in 2025.
14. We are currently only looking at the public car parks that serve the town's centres.
15. Current legislation limits district-level Council Tax increases to £5 annually without a referendum. Conducting such a referendum would be complex and costly and can only ask for an endorsement of a tax rise; it cannot specify that the increase is for car park costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please click on the cross to view the answer

1) Why are you considering introducing charging?

The Council is putting forward this proposal to ensure that council services valued by residents and businesses are not negatively impacted by the cost of public car parking provision. This proposal also aims to increase the churn of parking in town centre car parks to enable greater footfall to support businesses and ensure the car parks are primarily used to support the delivery of our thriving market towns. This activity follows on from the Council's successful enforcement trials in Attleborough and Swaffham.

2) Is this a money-making scheme?

The Council's budget, which the taxpayer funds, currently pays approximately £450,000 a year for your car parks, so this service has never been free. The tariffs currently under consideration in the public consultation have been designed at a minimal rate so that the car parks operate on a cost recovery basis, with money generated by charging for parking covering the operating cost of this service and any up-front enabling works.

3) Will this negatively impact the high street businesses?

Across Norfolk, market towns with public car parking charges are thriving. Proposed parking charges will not negatively impact our high streets; instead it is intended that they will ensure parking turnover, or 'churn', that will bolster trade on our high streets, helping our market town businesses to thrive.

4) When will charging commence?

Following the public consultation a period of design and development will take place. Following this, any new operating model will commence in 2026. However, the Council will be able to provide an exact implementation date once further planning and design work has been completed.

5) Will residents and businesses have an opportunity to comment on these proposals?

Having started on 4 November, a six-week period of public consultation will have taken place  with public engagement events in each market town.  Members of the public have been able to complete the consultation online on the council's website, on paper at one of the public events, or by collecting and returning a paper consultation form at their local library.

6) Will this encourage existing users to park on the street?

Having implemented an enforcement model in two of our market towns, the evidence gathered suggests that vehicle displacement is short-lived. We expect user behaviour to adapt to the new operating model after a short bedding-in period. The Council will also work with the County Council's highways department to monitor the impact of the expected short-term natural displacement of vehicles.

7) Do the parking charges proposed vary depending on the town?

As with all other local authorities, potential parking charges are calculated to reflect the size and offering of each town; our consultants, who are subject matter experts, have reviewed each of the Council's market towns against a pool of similar market towns across the county whilst also considering localised information to produce a fair and consistent proposed tariff rate for each town. The public consultation will also greatly assist decision making on any potential charging rates across the district.

8)  Have you considered any free periods or concessions?

Yes, the current proposal includes provision that each town will have a car park offering an hour free period every day. Consideration is also being given to extended free periods on specific days, and free days to support public events. The consultation has covered these specific potential options.

9) Why can't all the Council's car parks have a free period?

Our extensive car park surveys, feasibility work, and financial assessment have driven the principles of the proposed new operating model. The decision over which car parks will have a free period will be driven by the feedback we have received in the public consultation.

10)  Why haven't you considered time-limited enforcement rather than charging

Over the last few years, we have worked with enforcement providers to deliver time-limited enforcement in some of the car parks in two of our market towns (Attleborough and Swaffham). Expanding this enforcement activity has indeed been considered and reported in the report initially presented to Breckland's Cabinet in July 2024.  As identified in that report, while time-limited enforcement would indeed increase churn and greater availability of parking spaces, it would also significantly increase the cost of operating the Council's car parks. Given that the sustainability of Breckland's town centre car parks are central to our approach, this cost would be prohibitive. Following an initial investment in enabling works, the income generated from parking charges will cover the costs of car park operations moving forward, meaning that this service is protected, sustainable and 'standing on its own two feet'.

11) How will people pay for their parking?

It is proposed that a variety of accessible payment options will be available for car park users. These could range from contactless card payments (given that 97% of UK adults possess a debit card) at modern, accessible, on-site payment machines, to an easy-to-use smartphone app to pay for parking via smartphone, or to pay using cash via any 'Pay Point' outlet in the district.
Many car park users will be familiar with payment systems that require the user to pay up-front for a set period; an hour, two hours, three hours etc., we do not believe that this system is fair to our car park users, as many often return to their vehicles before their paid period has ended, without recourse to a refund for the unused portion.  Our potential payment system, on smartphone app and using the contactless machines on-site, will be 'tap-in, tap-out' meaning that you will only pay for the time period spent using the car park.

12)  Why will some car parks be designated as short stay?

The proposed model includes provision for long and short stay. This was a central element of the public consultation with questions covering which car parks consultees use and whether they should be long or short-stay.

13) Have the Council considered a permit system?

This was a central element of the public consultation with questions covering resident, employee and volunteer permits.

14)  Will there be any disruption in the car parks?

Following the decision to adopt a new operating model, installation work will be minimal, and disruption will be reduced to a bare minimum where possible. Small periods of disruption may be required at sites where improvement work is identified to benefit the customer experience, which will be well communicated to its users.

15)  Why is Watton included in the new charging model when it wasn't recommended for charging in the consultant's initial draft report?

The original consultant recommendation from Parking Matters was driven by two core aims; to generate income from Breckland's car parks to remove the cost burden from council taxpayers; and to introduce a system of managing car parking that will improve the availability of spaces across the district to support footfall on our high streets.  Their recommendation included charging from the first minute.  It did not include any free periods, free event day parking, extended disabled allowances, or a permit system.  Breckland Council pushed back on the initial recommendation with the central aim of shaping a fairer parking proposal that meets both objectives.
This fairer proposal is based on car park users paying for spaces when they use them, rather than Breckland Council taxpayers subsidising car parking.  In this spirit of fairness, the proposed new charging model should apply to all market towns.

16) Why was no consultation carried out before Breckland's Cabinet vote in July 2024?

Given the importance of public parking provision to our market towns, and Breckland Council's understanding of the financial pressures that many residents and businesses face across the district, it would have been irresponsible for the council to seek public opinion on such a major issue, without having first developed a detailed proposed solution to the problem.  Following Breckland's Cabinet vote to explore a new charged parking model, we held a six-week period of consultation through which consultees submitted their views online, at public engagement sessions, or in paper via their local libraries.

17) Will Breckland be measuring the impact on town centre businesses? 

Breckland has a longstanding relationship with our business community. A relationship built upon our mutual desire to build a district where businesses can thrive. We regularly provide funding and support to help our businesses grow, seize opportunities, and create employment.
We have supported our business community through meanwhile funding, delivering significant national investment funds, working with partners at town and county level, and partnering with major national organisations to support local projects. This close relationship and continued engagement ensures that we are in a strong position to deliver a parking model that will mitigate the needs of our town centre businesses, and that we will learn of any issues facing our business community as they arise.In our recent public consultation, we encouraged businesses to have their say online or by attending one of our market town engagement events.

18) Dereham Town Council have proposed a rise in Council Tax to cover the cost of car parks rather than charging at the point of use. Is that possible? 

Any increase in council tax must be considered within the restrictions imposed upon local councils by current legislation.  To cover the cost of the provision of car parking services in the district, there would need to be an increase in the cost of council tax in excess of the permitted legislative maximum increase of £5 or 3%.  To increase council tax by £5 or more would require the holding of a referendum. You can find out more about council tax restrictionson the GOV.UK website. (opens new window) 

19) To increase council tax above the £5 per year limit imposed on Breckland would require a referendum. What would that entail? Is it possible? 

For a council in a two-tier authority area (like Breckland) any council tax increase of £5 or more requires a referendum. This referendum can only ask residents whether they accept a council tax rise. It cannot ask whether they accept a council tax rise to fund any particular expense. Therefore, Breckland Council cannot hold a referendum on increasing council tax to specifically fund car parking.

20) Does Breckland intend to charge for parking on all of its car parks? 

The changes currently proposed to Breckland's car parking operations are intended to ensure the sustainability of our town centre car parks, guaranteeing that we can continue providing a car parking service for our residents and businesses, and that we can continue to provide the vital services our most vulnerable residents need. Given this focus, the current proposal being considered by the public through consultation is that charging will only apply to our town centre car parks. Breckland also owns car parks attached to office and industrial locations that are in many cases leased to other organisations and businesses. Therefore, these car parks are not included in the new charging model.