Plymouth City Council has announced a rise in parking charges starting on April 14, 2025. On-street parking will increase by 20p per hour, and some short-stay car parks will see higher fees as well. Additionally, a 20p 'convenience' charge will be introduced for using the RingGo app, and the cost of applying for a disabled parking space outside a property will increase.

Evening parking charges will now be at the same rate as daytime rates. The council justified the price hikes by citing inflation and the need for more consistent parking pricing. Cllr Mark Coker, Plymouth City Council's cabinet member for transport, stated: 'Like most local authorities, our financial challenges, due to rising costs and demand mean that we do need to make some alterations to our charging policy.'

The council emphasized that the increases were essential to ensure the continued delivery of key services. Over the past year, the city has made several improvements for motorists, such as creating over 400 extra-wide parking spaces, expanding payment options, and introducing business permits in some loading areas.

The new changes include:

• Increasing on-street parking by 20p per hour.
• Adjusting permit costs to account for inflation, based on figures from April 2024.
• Raising some short-stay car park tariffs, while keeping longer-stay tariffs unchanged.
• Applying inflationary increases to the cost of applying for and installing disabled driver parking spaces (DDPS), removing the current subsidy.
• Reintroducing the 20p RingGo convenience fee, which had been covered by the council since the pandemic.
• Launching a campaign to remind people they can use remaining parking time in other locations.

Cllr Coker added, 'Over the past year we have heavily invested in parking arrangements across the city. These changes are essential for ensuring the sustainability of our services and making our parking system more user-friendly.' He also noted that by moving to a single charging period and adjusting fees, the council is addressing long-standing issues and aligning its charges with other cities.

The new charges will be officially implemented via a notice of variation and take effect on April 14, 2025.