Ashford Borough Council’s cabinet considered proposals on 10 September 2026 to increase off-street and on-street parking tariffs, introduce a new £2 overnight charge and withdraw all four of the council’s existing free-parking offers — a package forecast to raise an additional £223,000 a year.
Drivers using Ashford Borough Council car parks could face higher charges from 1 January 2027 after officers put a package of parking tariff increases to cabinet on 10 September 2026.
What is proposed
Short-stay car park charges would rise across all time bands. The one-hour rate would increase from £1.30 to £1.40, the two-hour rate from £2.60 to £2.80, the three-hour rate from £3.90 to £4.20, the four-hour rate from £5.20 to £5.60, and the over-four-hour rate from £13.20 to £14.00. In long-stay car parks the over-four-hour rate would rise from £6.00 to £7.00.
On-street parking charges are proposed to rise more steeply, from £1.30 to £2.00 per hour. Officers said this reflects the limited availability of on-street spaces and the premium associated with proximity to town centre amenities.
A new flat-rate overnight charge of £2.00 would apply across all council-operated car parks between 18:00 and 08:00. Officers noted that Canterbury City Council already operates a comparable arrangement.
Resident and business permit fees would also change. Zone B resident permits would rise from £60 to £70, all other resident permits from £40 to £50, and business permits from £594 to £650. Zone A resident permits and visitor permits would remain unchanged at £130 and £1 respectively.
Free parking withdrawn
The report also proposed removing every free-parking arrangement the council currently offers. Free parking after 3pm on Sundays and bank holidays at Station Road, Ashford would be removed, as would free parking on Sundays and bank holidays at Flour Mills. Free Sunday parking at Elwick Road, a temporary arrangement introduced while the Edinburgh Road car park is closed, would be removed once the interim car park on the Park Mall site opens.
The fourth, the “Free After 3pm” offer at Elwick Place, is being withdrawn from 1 November 2026 under delegated authority granted to the Corporate Director of Health and Wellbeing rather than by this decision. Officers said an equivalent free offer would be provided at the temporary Park Mall car park for six months once it opens.
Parking vouchers would also rise. A book of 10 would increase from £37.50, or £3.75 a session, to £49.50, or £4.95 a session.
The council’s own risk assessment acknowledged the likely reaction, identifying adverse public perception as a principal risk “particularly in relation to the reduction or removal of existing free parking provisions”, alongside the possibility that higher tariffs reduce demand.
Financial case
The revised tariffs are forecast to generate approximately £223,000 of additional annual income. Because the changes would not take effect until 1 January 2027, officers estimated a benefit of around £55,000 within the current financial year if approved. The overnight charge could generate between £153,665 and £921,990 per year depending on occupancy levels, though officers said a low level of usage would be factored into financial planning until actual figures are known.
One-off implementation costs — covering new signage, payment system changes and communications — are estimated at approximately £12,000, to be recovered from the additional income.
Officers noted that business rates for the parking service had risen from £335,918 in 2020/21 to £434,756 in 2025/26, and that electricity costs were almost four times higher than in 2020/21.
Benchmarking and review cycle
A benchmarking exercise found that the proposed one-hour charge of £1.40 would remain below comparable rates in Maidstone (£1.50), Dover (£1.80), Folkestone (£2.60) and Canterbury, where charges can reach £3.70 per hour in premium city-centre car parks. The proposed long-stay charge of £7.00 for stays over four hours was said to be competitive against Maidstone (£8.50) and Canterbury (£15.00–£18.00 depending on location).
Officers also recommended that future tariff reviews move from a three-yearly to a two-yearly cycle.
The council had not published the minutes of the meeting at the time of writing, so the committee’s decision is not yet on the public record.
Top image: Station Road car park, Tenterden, one of Ashford Borough Council’s long-stay car parks. Photo: Rob Purvis / Geograph, CC BY-SA 2.0.