Sunday all-day parking charges in Horsham town centre are to increase from £1.70 to as much as £6.70 from April.
The change was approved during a meeting of the district council on Wednesday (October 16) and is expected to bring in an extra £134,000 per year.
As well as the Sunday increases, which will also cover Bank Holidays, a 9% rise in tariffs from Monday to Saturday was also approved.
Mark Baynham, cabinet member for finance, said the increases reflected the rise in inflation since the tariffs were last revised.
It currently costs £1.70 to park all day on Sunday in the town centre’s 12 car parks.
But from April 1, it will cost:
– Piries Place – £6.70 all day, £3.50 up to two hours
– The Forum – £4.30 all day, £2.20 up to two hours
– Swan Walk – £5.50 all day, £2.80 up to two hours
The other nine will charge £3.90 all day.
As for the Monday to Saturday increases, they will add between 10p and 30p on a stay of up to two hours.
There was plenty of opposition to the price hikes.
Philip Circus (Con, West Chiltington, Thakeham & Ashington) described the Sunday changes as ‘appalling’ and Tony Hogben (Con, Colgate & Rusper) asked for the proposals to be looked at again.
But Mr Baynham said free or cheap Sunday parking was something from a ‘bygone age’ when most shops stayed closed.
He said there were ‘compelling reasons’ for the tariff increases, such as the number of people heading into town on a Sunday being little different to the rest of the week.
He added that losing so much potential income would lead to the council having to make cuts elsewhere – such as reducing what was spent on parks and green spaces or cutting support for community groups by half.
As well as the increase in parking charges, the cost of the garden waste collection service will rise from £54 to £59 per year.
This will add £200,000 to the council’s income, depending on whether the price increase causes any
significant drop-off in subscriptions.
The new cost will still be lower than in Crawley (£71), Chichester (£74) and Mid Sussex (£85).
The council ended 2023/24 with a budget surplus of £224,000 and projections indicate 2024/25 will end with a £349,000 surplus
But there will be challenges over the coming years.
Figures presented to the meeting predicted a balanced budget in 2025/26 but deficits increasing to a £2.29m overspend by 2029/30.
The situation is not helped by a number of unknowns, such as how much government funding the council will receive and how much compensation it will be given for funding a food waste collection, which will start in March 2026.
