Drop in city council income from parking charges

Canterbury City Council has reported its income from parking charges has dropped by almost £500,000 in a year.

Reduced visits by people in cars have been recorded since the authority overhauled its price system in 2024, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Council officials said more people were travelling on public transport, park and ride use was rising and footfall was up in Canterbury city centre.

They added that some regeneration projects had forced car parks to close temporarily.

Despite a £133,000 rise in park and ride income, overall parking-related revenue was £468,000 lower in 2025-26 than the previous financial year.

Changes in April 2024 saw parking charges rise at some car parks by as much as £2.10 per hour and led to a £1.4 million increase in parking revenue in a year, despite nearly 90,000 fewer car park visits.

That income has started to decrease, the latest figures show.

The council's head of transport and environment, Richard Moore, told a committee earlier in June that this was "a key part of the overall transport aim" to reduce city centre driving.

Labour councillor Mike Bland questioned if there was a strategy "about how that continued decrease in parking income might go".

Responding, Moore said: "We cannot allow cars just to make the city congested.

"Not only is it bad for the environment, but some businesses who think we should make it free parking would soon be up in arms when no one's coming in or investing in the city because it's so congested."

Despite fewer cars using council car parks, Canterbury city centre footfall reportedly increased by 1.2%.

Park and ride usage rose by 12% in 2025-26 but remained below levels from before the Covid-19 pandemic and costs the council money to run.

Council documents highlighted that some car parks, such as on Castle Row in Canterbury, had been closed for all or part of the year, leading to increases at some other car parks.

In other areas covered by the council Herne Bay recorded cars being parked almost 40,000 fewer times than before changes to pricing, according to the report.

The number of people parking in Whitstable had risen slightly.

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