We are making changes to the parking systems in some of our car parks. Under the new system, you will pay once you are ready to leave the car park.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras will record the time you arrive. The exact amount of time you have been parked for will be calculated and you will only be charged for that tariff/period. This means that you will no longer have to estimate the amount of time you think you are going to park for.
The following car parks will be changed:
- Rathmore Road
- Milton Place
- Ordnance Road
- Parrock Street
West Street Car Park and Gurdwara Car Park will remain unchanged and will continue to operate a traditional pay & display system.
When are the changes being made?
The changes were made to Rathmore Road car park on Monday 15 May 2023 and Parrock Street Car Park on Monday 24 July 2023.
We do not yet have confirmed go live dates for Milton Place or Ordnance Road. We will update this page on go-live dates as and when they become available. Please check back for updates.
How to pay
There are many options for how to pay for parking with the new system. You can still pay by cash, but AutoPay is now the most convenient method of payment as it is the quickest and easiest way to pay.
After you have paid using any of the below methods, the camera will read your vehicle registration and raise the barrier when you exit the car park.
AutoPay
You will be able to register for AutoPay to set up automatic parking payments, so you’ll never need to visit a payment machine again.
Signing up is easy, fast and secure. Once you have set up an account and added your vehicle and payment details, payment will be taken directly from your nominated debit/credit card when you leave the car park.
The portal to register for AutoPay is now live. Please visit our AutoPay page. Until we have confirmed go live dates for these systems in Parrock Street, Milton Place and Ordnance Road, the current pay & display rules apply. Similarly, AutoPay cannot be used in Rathmore Road Car Park until go live on 15 May 2023. Prior to this date, the current pay & display rules apply.
RingGo
The option to pay via RingGo will remain but instead using RingGo PayLater. This works in a slightly different way to the current method of paying before you leave your vehicle. Under the new systems you will need to pay for parking on return to your vehicle.
How RingGo PayLater works:
- The ANPR camera will record your time of arrival
- Open the RingGo app or go to the RingGo website when you return to your vehicle.
- Select the correct location code (displayed in the car park)
- Select the duration of your stay
- Pay for your stay before leaving the car park
- Drive to the barrier and exit the car park
- If you have not entered the correct duration, the barrier will not open. You will then need to either enter the RingGo app or website again, or use the contactless card option at the barrier to pay the balance for your parking.
If you have not entered the correct duration, the barrier will not open. You will then need to either enter the RingGo app or website again or use the contactless card option at the barrier to pay the balance for your parking.
Pay station
Pay using cash, card or contactless at the payment terminal before returning to your vehicle. You'll need to enter your vehicle registration and pay the fee shown on the screen. Please note the terminals do not give change.
Payment at exit barrier (ITSME)
Contactless card payment may be made by driving directly to the exit barrier. The camera will read your vehicle registration and you will then be asked to follow the instructions on the screen.
10-minute grace period
If you enter the car park and there are no spaces so you exit the car park within 10 minutes you will not be charged, and the barrier will open on exit. The same applies if you decide not to park after entering.
If customers enter the car park to use the public toilets (Parrock Street) or to use the recycling bins (Ordnance Road and Parrock Street), the system will give a 10 minute grace period.
If you go over the 10 minutes, you will be charged and will have to pay before exiting the car parks.
Evening and weekend parking
Evenings and Sundays
Car parks are remaining free of charge between 6pm and 8am and all day on Sundays.
Saturdays
If your stay is shorter than two hours on a Saturday, you will not need to pay for parking before leaving the car park. The ANPR cameras will recognise the length of your visit being under two hours and the exit barrier will open. If your stay exceeds the two hour period, payment for the additional time will need to be made before exiting the car park.
Electric vehicles
Electric vehicles using an EV charging point will need to pay for parking using any of the above methods.
Motorbikes
Motorbikes do not need to pay for parking.
Blue badge holders
If you're a blue badge holder you can still park for free, but you must register your blue badge and vehicle details before you enter the car park. You can register two vehicles per Blue Badge but only one vehicle can benefit from free parking at one time. For example, if vehicle A enters the car park and vehicle B enters the car park shortly after, the ANPR system will recognise that vehicle A was already parked, and vehicle B will need to pay the relevant fee to be able to exit the car park. Please be reminded the Blue Badge must always be displayed when parking.
Please visit our Blue Badge page for more information.
You must continue to display your Blue Badge when parked, failure to do so will result in a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued.
Town Centre Workers and Season ticket holders
The new system will link to our virtual permit system. If you have a car park season ticket, your registration plate will be recognised by our cameras and the exit barrier will open when leaving the car park.
If you have a Town Centre Worker permit, your registration plate will be recognised by our cameras as being a TCW permit holder and upon payment of the discounted fee, the exit barrier will open when leaving the car park.
An update was sent to all permit holders in January 2023 and we will send further update prior to go live in the relevant car parks.
Why are we making these changes?
The new system is much more efficient and customer-friendly.
Our Parking Enforcement Officers currently spend a lot of time in our car parks. They will be able to spend less time in these car parks, freeing them up to spend more time at parking hotspots in and around the borough, such as in our key shopping areas and around our schools.