The increase of parking charges in Swansea has sparked a backlash from those who live and work in the city. The city's council introduced new parking charges on April 17 for the first time since 2014.
But the public were left outraged with the move being described as “out of touch” and “absolutely vile." One worker noted how on the day the change had been introduced he had been charged £30 instead of the usual £3.40 after an eight hour shift.
The feedback from the public was acknowledged and leader of Swansea Council Rob Stewart said the authority recognised "the cost-of-living crisis is still impacting on families and businesses" and offered an extra 700 parking season tickets for employers which means staff can park for £1.35 a day. It also announced the return of the 1-2-3 parking offer in the city centre in the coming weeks which apart from Copr Bay, will see parking offered for £1 an hour £2 for two hours and £3 for up to three hours, making it among the cheapest city centre parking anywhere in the country.
Read more: Council announces changes to huge Swansea parking fee hike after prices branded 'vile'
Under the controversial prices introduced on April 17, the rate for non-residents was £25 for up to eight hours at the Copr Bay South multi-storey car park, or £20 for residents, and £17 for up to eight hours as a non-resident at the Quadrant, or £16.50 as a resident. But this was scrapped, meaning the charge for up to 12 hours will be £16.50 for residents and £17 for non-residents. Park and Ride services are also remaining £1 a day car parking at both sites, allowing for the driver and three passengers to benefit from the cheap transport service into the city centre.
Here is how the rates now look and how they compare to those found in city centres in Cardiff and Newport, along with other English cities closely comparable in population size to Swansea. Get all the latest Swansea stories straight to your inbox by subscribing to our Swansea newsletter here.
Swansea
High Street multi-storey car park - One hour: £1.50 (£1 discount) Two hours: £2.50 (£2 discount), Up to four hours: £5.50 (£5 discount), Up to 12 hours: £8.50 (£8 discount)
Paxton Street - One hour: £2 (£1.50 discount), Two hours: £3.50 (£3 discount) up to four hours: £5.50 (£5 discount), Up to 12 hours: £9 (£8 discount)
St David's Shoppers car park (prices being introduced from April 28) - One hour: £2 (discount £1.50), Two hours: £3.50 (discount £3), Three hours: £4.50 (discount £4), Four hours: £5.50 (discount £5), Five hours: £6.50 (discount £6), Up to 12 hours: £9 (discount £8), 9pm to 8pm: £3.50, Sundays: £2
Copr Bay South multi-storey car park - One hour: £3 (discount £2), up to two hours: £4.50 (discount £3.50), up to three hours: £6 (discount £4.50), up to four hours: £10 (discount £8), up to five hours: £15 (discount £12), up to six hours £20 (discount £16), up to eight hours £25 (discount £20), 24 hours: £30 (discount £25)
Quadrant multi-storey car park (premium) - One hour: £2.50 (£2 discount) Two hours: £4 (£3.50 discount) Four hours: £7 (£6.50 discount) Up to eight hours: £17 (£16.50). The council says that the long term parking fee is purposely set this way to discourage long term parking at 'premium car parks' and enable it to be available for for short terms shoppers and arena visitors. It says long term parking (Up to 12 hours) is widely available at all other city centre car parks (apart from Copr Bay) for £8.
Cardiff
Castle Mews car park - One hour: £2.60, Two hours: £3.60, Three hours: £4.60, Four hours: £5.60, Five hours: £6.60, Evenings (6pm to 8pm) £2.60
North Road Car Park - Up to four hours: £5.10, Full day (until midnight of that day): £8.80
Sophia Gardens car park - One hour: £2.60, Two hours: £3.60, Four hours: £5.60, Five hours: £6.60, Six hours: £7.60 Seven hours: £8.60, Eight hours: £9.60, Nine hours: £10.60, Ten hours: £11.60, Twelve hours: £12.60, 12- 24 hours £20
St David's car park - Up to one hour: £2.50, 1-2 hours: £3, 2-3 hours: £4, 3-4 hours: £5, 4-5 hours: £6.50, 5-6 hours: £7.50, 6-12 hours: £11, 12-24 hours: £25 (midnight - 5pm); Up to three hours: £3, over three hours: £5 (5pm-midnight)
Newport
Kingsway car park - Up to three hours: £2.60, up to five hours: £4.70, Over five hours and up to 24 hours: £6.20
Park Square - Up to three hours: £2.60, up to five hours: £4.70, Over five hours and up to 24 hours: £6.20
Friars Walk - One to two hours: £1.50, two to three hours: £2.40, three to four hours: £3.60, four to six hours, £6, six to ten hours: £8, ten to 24 hours: £15
Reading
Broad Street Mall car park - One hour: £1.60, Two hours: £4.10, Three hours: £6.10, Four hours: £8.10, Five hours: £10.10, Six hours: £12.20, 24 hours: £14.20
Queens Road car park - One hour: £2.30, Two hours: £4.40, Three hours: £6.70, Four hours: £8.90, Five hours: £10.60, Six hours: £12.70, Six to 24 hours: £16.70
Blackpool
Blackpool Central - Up to 2 hours: £3.50, Up to three hours: £5, Up to four hours: £6, Up to six hours: £8.50, Up to eight hours: £11, Up to 12 hours: £14, Up to 18 hours: £16, Up to 24 hours: £19
Blackpool Talbot Road - Up to 2 hours: £3.50, Up to three hours: £5, Up to four hours: £6, Up to six hours: £8.50, Up to eight hours: £11, Up to 12 hours: £14, Up to 18 hours: £16, Up to 24 hours: £19
Southampton
College Street - One hour: £1, Two hours: £2.50, Three hours: £3.50, Four hours: £4.50, Five hours: £5.30, Six hours: £6.80, Seven hours: £7.30, Max: £8
West Park multi-storey car park - Two hours: £2.50, Three hours: £3.50, Four hours: £4.50, Five hours: £5, Max: £6
A spokesman for Swansea Council said: "We have recently announced parking charges for city centre car parks in Swansea which will make us cheaper than many other cities across the country. This includes a proposed offer £1 per hour for up to three hours in all city centre car parks, which cabinet will be asked to approve when in meets in May. We also have an excellent offer at our park and ride sites at £1 per car. Season tickets are also available for residents and city centre workers to give them cheaper long stay parking.
"When the current parking charges were approved in January this year, they were done so with consideration for what other cities are charging and also taking into account the huge financial pressures councils are facing when agreeing budgets. We have not increased parking charges since 2014 and prior to the coronavirus pandemic residents and visitors were paying fees only slightly below what we have recently introduced.
"When the pandemic took hold, we did everything possible to support city centre businesses and also families coming into the city centre – this included introducing an all-day charge of just £2. This was made possible because of financial support from the Government in relation to Covid which ended some time ago. The council chose to continue with this offer for a further 12 months funding it directly but it isn’t possible to continue at a cost of £2.1 million. As such Swansea, like many other councils have to consider appropriate charges for services such as car parks and give us the opportunity to ensure we can maintain them for future years."
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