Sunday Parking Charges in Salisbury

Sunday Parking Charges in Salisbury

Wiltshire Council is proposing to align Sunday parking tariffs with weekday rates. These changes could have significant impacts on churchgoers, local traders, and the wider community.

You may already have heard in the press or in social media about Wiltshire Council’s intention to align Sunday parking tariffs with weekday rates. If this goes ahead, it would mean that a three-hour stay in Salt Lane, Brown Street East, Brown Street West, Lush House or Maltings car parks would rise to £5.90 on a Sunday, with a maximum stay of three-hours, according to the proposed tariff. The concerns are outlined in more detail below.

The proposals have already been approved by Wiltshire Council’s Environmental Select Committee and Cabinet, but still have to go to a full budget & council-tax-setting meeting of the Council on 24th February. Whilst a Statutory Public Consultation will subsequently have to take place, it would only be fair to the Council to express any reservations about these proposals as soon as possible. So, if you agree with the concerns, please could you email as many of Salisbury’s County Councillors as you can.

The concerns about the proposal to align Sunday charges with weekday charging are as follows (with particular reference to Salisbury and taking into account responses already received from the Council):

1. Churchgoers, needing to park on a Sunday, would be presented with a considerable and unfair increase in costs, which in turn would jeopardise churches’ income. For instance, those attending St Osmund’s Church 9am or 11am Masses (with after Mass coffee or a little shopping) may well park in one of the Brown Street car parks for one, two or three hours. The current flat-rate is £1.90 per visit on a Sunday; the new charges for the period would be £5.90, which amounts to a massive 211% increase. Moreover, parking would be limited to a maximum of three hours, instead of the current all-day Sunday parking, at the Brown Street car parks; this would threaten the viability of some church events. Given the acknowledged benefits that churchgoers bring to the local community, not least through extensive volunteering, the proposal to align Sunday charges with weekday charging would be an unwelcome additional financial constraint on them. Many churchgoers are relatively low-paid workers or retirees living on squeezed and fixed incomes. Whilst the Church is actively committed to equality, diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and we appreciate that the Council cannot be seen to be privileging one particular religious faith group, over against others, and recognise that ‘the Council’s proposals for tariffs are based on being neutral on matters of religion and beliefs, to ensure all residents are treated equally, regardless of their personal faith or lack thereof’; the fact remains that only Christians have meeting places situated in Salisbury city-centre and would therefore be disproportionately affected.

2. Traders in the city-centre are likely to lose revenue. Arguably, Sunday shopping is especially attractive to people because it can be more leisurely and there is no need to watch the time, given that there is simply a flat-rate parking charge. There is a risk that people may simply choose not to come and shop on a Sunday if parking charges are raised. We appreciate that it could be argued, on grounds of equality, that shops that are currently choosing not to open on a Sunday are being disadvantaged, because their customers are always having to pay weekday parking charges. And that therefore shops choosing to trade on a Sunday are being given an unfair competitive advantage. However, no evidence has been provided of any sense of disadvantage from those Salisbury shop owners who choose not to open on Sundays. Equally, if Sunday charges were aligned with weekday charging, wouldn’t this potentially displace at least some parking to other days and increase the pressure on parking spaces on those days?

3. The extra cost of introducing park & ride services on a Sunday would probably need to be factored in. The Council’s ‘Parking Tariffs 2026 – 2030’ document states that ‘in Salisbury the charges are based upon further incentivizing the use of park and rides’ (section 28). If the new charges are being ‘used as a policy tool to encourage a change in behaviour, such as promoting the use of public transport’ (section 65), then park & ride would need to be available every day, including Sundays. Other bus services on Sundays are relatively minimal, as well as being more costly to passengers than park and ride. Consequently, park and ride would surely need to be an alternative option for those unable to afford Sunday city-centre parking increases.

Please note that these are not intended as in any way party-political points.

Have Your Say

These proposals and their financial implications will form part of the Wiltshire Council budget for the financial year 26/27 and will be discussed and debated at the next Full Wiltshire Council meeting on 24th February. If you share our concerns, please email Salisbury County Councillors ahead of 24th February. The more emails that councillors receive, the more they will take notice.

Your Wiltshire Coucillors can be found here: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1