Powys County Council has approved new car parking arrangements following a lengthy review, including the reintroduction of a one-hour parking tariff in all long stay car parks.

The proposals, agreed by the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet today, set parking charges at £1.50 for up to one hour, £2.50 for up to two hours, £3.50 for up to four hours, and £5 for all-day parking.

A new single permit, valid for use in one specified car park only, will also be introduced, priced at £280 annually, £155 for six months, £90 for three months, and £30 for one month.

Blue Badge holders will be required to purchase pay and display tickets but will receive an additional hour of parking beyond the ticket expiry.

The new arrangements are due to come into effect in August 2025.

The changes come after concerns that earlier parking fee increases had discouraged visitors and hurt local town centre businesses.

The review itself was lengthy and contentious, with opposition councillors pushing for lower charges to encourage more use of the car parks and support local shops. They accused the council of treating car parks as a "cash cow" to fill funding shortfalls in highways, transport, and recycling services.

Car parking fees were raised as part of the 2023/24 budget set by the Liberal Democrat, Labour, and Green administration.

However, the increase faced strong opposition, prompting the council to establish a working group in autumn 2023 to review the fees and other parking arrangements.

Cllr Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys said: “We are pleased to have agreed a way forward with the car parking arrangements within the county following the cross-party review.

“The review process has taken longer than we would have liked, but it was really important that we made sure we listened to and considered all the feedback and developed solutions suitable for our communities, deliverable within the council’s budgets and sustainable for the future.

“The reintroduction of the one-hour parking tariff to long stay car parks was something we were keen to include, although doing so has meant some other adjustments to our budgets.

“Together with the recently introduced option of paying for parking via a mobile phone app, we are looking forward to these recommendations being put into place in car parks across the county shortly.”

Since May, Powys car parks have accepted payments via the PayByPhone app, allowing users to manage parking sessions by mobile phone.