Drivers in Ashford town centre will pay no more for parking this year than they did last year, after the borough council opted to hold all tariffs steady following rises introduced in 2024/25.
Ashford Borough Council’s Parking Tariff Review, published as part of its Revenue Budget 2025/26, confirms a 0.00% change across all its managed car parks and on-street bays. A freeze, in other words. That follows the previous year’s increases, when most hourly rates climbed from £1.20 to £1.30.
The review covers five locations: the Civic Centre and Stour Centre car park, Dover Place, Station Road, the newly opened Victoria Road car park, and on-street bays throughout the town centre. All charge £1.30 an hour — whether you’re at the kerb before 6pm or pulling into one of the off-street sites.
Longer stays are where things diverge. At the Civic Centre and Stour Centre, a weekday stay of more than four hours costs £13.20 — up from £12.00 in 2023/24, but held at that level since last year. Weekends there cost £6.00 for the same duration, matching the all-week rate at both Station Road and the new Victoria Road car park. Coach operators bringing groups in pay £2.00 per hour at the Civic Centre and Stour Centre site — also frozen for 2025/26.
Key charges at a glance:
- Hourly rate (all sites, on-street and off-street): £1.30 in 2024/25 and 2025/26, up from £1.20 in 2023/24
- Civic Centre / Stour Centre — over 4 hours, Monday to Friday: £13.20 (was £12.00 in 2023/24)
- Civic Centre / Stour Centre — over 4 hours, Saturday and Sunday: £6.00 (was £5.50 in 2023/24)
- Station Road and Victoria Road — over 4 hours: £6.00 (was £5.50 in 2023/24)
- Coach parking at Civic Centre / Stour Centre — per hour: £2.00 (was £1.85 in 2023/24), frozen for 2025/26
- On-street charge after 6pm for up to one hour: £1.30, frozen for 2025/26
Victoria Road is new. The council’s documentation describes it as expanding off-street provision in the town centre, and its over-four-hours charge of £6.00 puts it in line with Station Road and the Civic Centre weekend rate — which may quietly take some pressure off those busier sites.
The decision to hold charges steady — every 2024/25 to 2025/26 column in the review reads 0.00% — won’t have been accidental. Household costs across Kent aren’t exactly easing, and a further rise would have been noticed.
The full Parking Tariff Review is available through Ashford Borough Council’s public committee papers.
Ashford parking charges frozen for 2025/26 after earlier rises Quiz
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