DRIVERS using three Staple Hill car parks will have to pay a minimum of £3 to park there from early next year.
Details of new parking charges have been confirmed by South Gloucestershire Council, which runs the car parks in Page Road, Byron Place and Haynes Lane.
The charges have been described as “a nail in the high street’s coffin” by the chair of Staple Hill Chamber of Trade, who says customers have already said they will shop elsewhere if it becomes too expensive to park.
The charges were agreed as part of this year’s budget, and the council says they will “go live” at 22 car parks in the district next spring.
There will be separate long and short stay charges, with short stays costing between 70p for an hour and £4.50 for the maximum four hours.
The council says that “at least 10% of spaces” in short stay car parks will be free for stays of up to 30 minutes.
In long stay car parks the minimum charge will be £3 for up to four hours, rising to £9 for a day.
Blue badge holders will be able to park free for four hours in both short and long stay car parks, and there will be season tickets ranging from £24 a week to £1,008 a year.
The council owns four car parks in Staple Hill and one in Mangotsfield.
The three which will be subject to long stay charges are the Byron Place car park opposite the Tesco Metro store off Broad Street, the main Page Road car park near Soundwell Road and Haynes Lane, next to Pendennis Road.
While Haynes Lane is currently a long stay car park, Byron Place currently has a two-hour limit and the main Page Road car park has a four-hour limit.
The council has another car park between Page Road and Kendall Road, which will be a short stay car park.
The St James Street car park in Mangotsfield will have a mix of short and long-stay spaces, as it does now.
The council will also introduce charges at Kings Chase shopping centre and four other car parks in Kingswood, at the Parkway North car park in Stoke Gifford and at Yate Leisure Centre.
Other car parks used by shoppers in the area, including the Co-op car park in Downend and Tesco store car park in Staple Hill, are not council-owned and are not subject to the new charges.
Staple Hill Chamber of Trade chair George Georgiou, who runs the Butchers Hook in the High Street, said: “It’s a nail in the high street’s coffin.
“Customers have point-blank told me they won’t be coming if they have to pay to park
“Some have already said that they’ll just go to Tesco instead and park there free.”
George said the charges went against the council’s spending on initiatives designed to try and bring shoppers back to high streets, which have employed multiple council officers in recent years.
He said: “This will empty the car parks and the roads will be full, forcing people onto the high streets and then booking them – the council will have to hire more parking attendants.”
A council spokesperson said: “Under the new scheme, there will be a range of long and short-stay parking options across the town, and we know from feedback from residents and other stakeholders that there is a demand for that mix.
“As car parks vary in size, it is not always possible to have both long and short stay spaces at the same location, but we have sought to ensure that we provide that mix as closely as possible in each area.
“Staple Hill also benefits from on street short stay car parking spaces by the shops, that will remain free.”
Charges will apply between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday, with parking staying free on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Payments will be cashless, using cards or an app.
The authority estimates that the charges will raise more than £800,000 per year.
Council cabinet member for communities Sean Rhodes said the council had “listened carefully to the feedback from local residents and businesses about how car park charging can work”.
He said members “strongly believe” charges “will not be a barrier to people getting out and about to visit local shops and other businesses, with parking charges in some neighbouring areas more than three times higher”.