Parking voucher give-away ahead of city price rise

Parking for regular customers has been a cause of frustration for some time for business owners, who are concerned parking charges put off shoppers.

From September, Chichester BID will be distributing the county council on-street parking vouchers to its members, with some vouchers to be given out in the lead up to Christmas.

Chichester BID chairman Colin Hicks said: “Chichester BID actively work with our local parking authorities to find creative ways of mitigating the impact of parking charges.

“Currently, we have a couple of schemes running with the county council that offer reduced-cost summer parking for the customers of our member businesses.”

The county council spokesman said the permits could be used as ‘goodwill gestures’ to regular customers for picking up orders or to extend appointments, with the hope it will help to bolster businesses.

If successful, the council has said it will roll out the free distribution offer to other BID areas across the county.

It comes as West Sussex County Council prepares to increase on-street parking prices across the city from September 3.

Pay and display prices are set to rise from £1.40 to £1.50 an hour, with the 35p charge for 15 minutes changed to 75p for 30 minutes.

Resident visitor permits will also rise to £8 a week or £1.60 a day while resident permit prices will increase by a few pounds a year.

Traders’ and doctors’ permits will also inch up from £200 to £208 a year or from £110 to £114 in lower cost zones.

Vouchers will be distributed by the BID office exclusively to BID levy payers, on a first-come-first-served basis and are valid in on-street, short-stay charged bays in the city centre (Zone E), excluding residential-only bays. Call the BID on 01243 773263 or email [email protected].