New car parking charges are being introduced at a Brighton leisure centre from late February.
Drivers who park for longer than three hours at Withdean Sports Complex, which was previously the city’s only free park and ride, will need to pay.
The car park will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), although visitors to the sports centre and Sportsman pub will be able to extend their three hour stay free of charge by speaking with staff.
After three hours of free parking, a £3 charge for all-day parking will be payable, with the revenue to go back into the maintenance and lighting of the car park.
Councillor Alan Robins, chair of the Culture, Heritage, Sports, Tourism and Economic Development Committee said: “As we introduce 3G pitches, padel tennis courts and new soft play facilities at Withdean, and visitor numbers increase, it’s important that the car parking at the site is effectively managed to ensure spaces are available for those using the leisure centre and Sportsman pub.
“Introducing a £3 charge after the first three hours will still offer good value for those wishing to use the car park for longer stays, while raising valuable revenue for the upkeep and maintenance.”
Drivers will also be able to buy overnight parking at the site, which is leased to Freedom Leisure, for £10.
Darryl Keech, Freedom Leisure area manager said: “We are very excited about the positive improvements and developments happening at Withdean over the coming months which will benefit the whole Brighton and Hove community and our customers from further afield.
“This will inevitably result in more visitors and it is important we manage the car parking so everyone can access these great new facilities.
“We would like to reiterate that our regular visitors can park for longer than three hours if needed by registering their number plate at our main reception.”
The car park is close to a stop for the 27 bus service, with options for a permanent park and ride service on the outskirts of the city being explored by the council.
Paid parking at the site was considered in 2022 when Freedom Leisure were struggling to pay energy bills at the Withdean Sports Complex.
More money grabbing! So mich for reducing traffic into brighton and encouraging bus and train usage! We need more park and ride, not more extortion form the council! A seriously flawed idea it seems, unless the idea is to drive workers and visitors away from brighton
I disagree. Still seems like excellent value for money, and I suspect those who use this will still find it to be so, considering the prices for parking in central Brighton. Secondly has the benefit of reducing the usage of this car park by those just looking for free parking who might not be using either P&R or the Sports Centre. Still, I imagine those who were enjoying the free nature of it won’t be happy.
Sadly it will only be usable by those who can use the App on their mobile phones and don’t mind wasting up to 25 minutes trying to get a parking voucher. Sadly I won’t be able to use either the on street parking facilities or Withdean, because the parking company only recognises my main card against a car I SOLD nearly 2 years ago, and when I tried to use three other cards, the computer said No, and abruptly said Goodbye! Cheers Brighton & Hove. So nice not to be welcome in the town of my birth and home for 55 years of my life.
That is a very unique problem. You know the infinite accounts trick with Google? Add +Whatever to your email address, for example Jeanette+Parking@gmail.com, it’s an additional account, within your account, good when you want throwaways or detail specifically where you email data is being leaked from.
Yes, should be £10. After 3hours.
Not the greatest of thinkers are you.
I doubt people who park and ride could get into town and back in three hours with the current poor slow bus service, but £3 sounds good to me and £4 return on the bus is a fair deal at this current time.
Under your proposal £14. People will go straight into town and pay 5 for an hour defeating the objective of heading for a car free city.
It’s a disgrace if the car park was better laid out you would get more spaces, this means the end of park and ride and the residents of the area have been treated like mugs, no consultation let down again
Why would they need to consult residents?
Perish the thought the Council would consult residents! We can’t have democracy .
I think everyone is getting peed off ith the bland comments of a council apologist
Ad homenim aside, that’s not answering my question. Why should residents be consulted in this issue? What is their relevance here?
Michael
I agree in part. Yes the car park could be better organised, however, it seems a swimming pool is going on the site where I would think the parking would be sorted out.
I don’t agree it would be the end of park and ride. It could be possible for people to get into Town and back within three hours but even those who might park all day, £3 isn’t an excessive amount to pay.
As for consultation, yes there should have been a period for any feedback for any concerns residents businesses may have had about parking for free in resident streets. It is my opinion BHCC didn’t want to hear feedback because they want to create problems and introduce yet more dreaded residents permits and paid for bays to resolve that issue.
Seems very reasonable if you’re using the sports centre – it’s free. If you’re using it for other purposes, after three hours, you pay quite a small amount, considering the standard rate for parking in Brighton.
Remind us – are you paid by Brighton and Hove City Council to support everything they do on social media?
Because it’s strange you seem to attend council meetings and have a lot of inside information on how and why decisions are made.
Disgusting citizen exploitation.
More money grabbing from the Council. It will start at 3 hours free and soon be hiked up
All parking charges, are a tax on motorists, its up to £500/year to park outside your front door in Central Hove. It was £20 when it started and we were told it would reserve a place and stop everyone else parking who lived further out We need to find a fairer way to pay the excessive wages of the directors of Bhcc, who also have free parking, Or just sack them, nobody would notice anyway..
You don’t own the space outside the front door, Barry. It’s closer to £15 a month…unless you’re running something that’s not very ecological, in which case, you could justify the savings on purchasing a more appropriate vehicle.
Well perhaps laying in plans for the loss-making swimming pool ?
They should consult residents as people will park on residential streets instead! I suspect it is to force a residential parking zone in the area.
Now that is a reasonable response. Well done. I certainly agree it will likely displace those who were using the spaces in the car park as long-term parking, and this may very well encourage a permit area to be included later on, much in line with the rest of the city.
As per usual, motorists are being used as a cash cow!
Benjamin I can only assume that you don’t drive a car in Brighton and don’t live around with Dean.
Julian, I don’t know who this Dean fella is, but silliness aside, you would be incorrect on both counts.
This is all one big initiative to monitise people leaving their cars to commute to London from Preston park station. All the roads around have been made permit only.
So for a couple it will cost £3 parking + £8 for bus fares to use the park-and-ride.
Alternatively drive to Horsham and use their service for £2.40 return fare for up to 5 people.
Or drive to Worthing and park in the Union Place NCP by the theatre for 3 hours for £4.35 – 24 hour parking is £7.95
As climbers this completely messes us up. It is horrible for us. Most climbers climb for more than 3 hours at a time. What are we supposed to do? Pay £10 each time? Twice a week thats £1000 a year. I hate it so much. Literally taking my one activity away from work and family and making it tougher.
I parked my car at the Withdean sports car park on 28th Aug 2024 at about midday and knew that i would exceed the free 3 hours parking as we were going to visit the Brighton Pavilion using the 27 bus service, so i used my mobile phone to call the displayed number to pay for my extended stay at the car park. By texting I entered my car reg no and the location and input my credit card number and also the 3 figure number on the back, that seemed to go though ok, so we all jumped on the bus. We were gone 6 hours and thought that was good value for £3. About a week later I received a fine of £100 or £60 if I paid within 14 days. I’m not happy but what could I do? so I paid the £60. I won’t be parking there again, daylight robbery!