FREE parking at South Gloucestershire Council-run car parks could be extended from the first 30 minutes to an hour.
Council leaders say they will consider calls from opposition Conservatives to let drivers stay longer without having to pay, although they “can’t make any promises”.
The council introduced charges last year in 22 off-street car parks, including Byron Place, Haynes Lane, two in Page Road, Staple Hill, and the St James Street car park in Mangotsfield.
The rules were changed to allow free half-hour stays in all spaces at the end of June, after traders across the district said the charges had been bad for business.
A report to a council scrutiny meeting on September 30 said the council’s parking services department faced a deficit of about £700,000 from the last financial year, despite the introduction of pay and display.
The report said charges raised £816,000 from May 2025 to the end of April this year, about half of the department’s income of £1.6 million – the rest coming mainly from fines.
Nic Labuschagne (Con, Winterbourne) told the commission: “The reality of 30-minute parking is that if the residents park for 31 minutes, they are charged for the full hour. Are there any views on pushing this to an hour so people can do meaningful tasks within that?”
Responding to the suggestion, cabinet member for communities John Bradbury (Lab, Bradley Stoke South) said: “We can take it away to look at it.
“I’m not going to give any promises one way or the other.
“We haven’t had the chance to fully assess this over a 12-month period.”
A long-running row over who is to blame for the charges was reignited during the meeting, as the Conservatives said the deficit in the parking services department now exceeded the £656,000 it stood at in the last year of their administration.
However Labour and the Liberal Democrats said the last Tory budget included a commitment to future savings, which officers told the incoming coalition was intended for new car park charges – a claim the Tories deny.
Council co-leader Ian Boulton (Lab, Staple Hill & Mangotsfield) told the opposition group: “You have opposed parking charges vociferously and consistently but you have never come up with a viable alternative.”
Conservative group leader Liz Brennan (Frenchay & Downend) said: “Residents and businesses that have been decimated by these parking charges deserve answers.”
By Adam Postans, Local Democracy Reporting Service