Flintshire Council Pay and Display car parking charges set to be brought back in October

Parking charges in Flintshire County Council’s off-street car parks will be reintroduced on 1 October 2021.

Parking has been free in Council operated car parks since March 2020 and charges have remained suspended to help local businesses as they came out of lockdown last summer and this continued into the autumn and winter.

This was extended to September 2021 to support the gradual opening and recovery of the town centres and to encourage footfall.

The council has said that “as more businesses reopen, we will be reinstating parking charges to ease potential congestion and help with access to the short-stay car parks.”

“Since 1 July 2021 charges have applied in Talacre, the County’s main tourist destination, in anticipation of the increased visitor numbers ahead of the school holiday season and the need to ensure availability of spaces throughout the day.”

“Public health and safety at all car parks remains a priority. People are advised to continue to follow the social distancing guidelines at all times.”

Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene, Councillor Glyn Banks, said:

“Footfall has been steadily increasing in our town centres as people return to work and to the shops and restaurants that they’ve missed.

“The support that free parking has given to key workers, essential businesses and others for more than 18 months has been invaluable.

“While we have made the decision to reinstate the charges, we do need to manage parking availability for everyone and ensure that the car parks in close proximity to the town centres are kept available for shoppers and that the car parks further away from the town are for designated for all day parking. We would like to direct longer stay visitors and commuters towards the long-stay car parks in town centres, where you can park from as little as £1.50 all day. This will free up centrally located car parks for short-stay parking.

“We would also like to encourage people to use public transport or walk and cycle wherever possible, which in turn will reduce reliance on single occupancy vehicles being used to undertake short journeys.”