SOUTH Gloucestershire Council has started work to install payment machines in car parks where charges are being brought in.
The council has yet to confirm a date for the introduction of charges in many of its car parks, including Page Road, Byron Place and Haynes Lane in Staple Hill and St James Street in Mangotsfield.
But it has changed its plans in relation to its two car parks in Page Road. The main car park, next to Soundwell Road, will be a short stay car park, which will have some free spaces for motorists stopping for 30 minutes or less, while the car park between Page Road and Kendall Road will now be a long stay car park.
The authority is still planning to make the Byron Place car park opposite Tesco in Broad Street long stay – it currently has a two-hour limit – while the St James Street car park in Mangotsfield will have a mix of short and long-stay spaces, as it does now.
Haynes Lane, next to Pendennis Road, will remain long stay.
Only short stay car parks will have any spaces available for free stays of up to 30 minutes; the minimum charge to park in a long-stay car park will be £3.
The council will also introduce charges at Kings Chase shopping centre in Kingswood 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.
Disabled Blue Badge holders will be able to park in any space free, for up to four hours.
Charges will apply on weekdays from 8am-6pm.
Short stay charges will range from 70p to £5, and daily long stay charges from £3 to £5.