MK City Council announce plans to change parking charges in city centre

Milton Keynes City Council have announced plans to change the parking charges for council-operated car parks in the city.

The City Council announced that parking charges are due to change in March 2025, which will be the first time they have been changed in nearly a decade.

In a decision next week, the city council is set to change parking tariffs to new fees as follows:

• Two-hour minimum stay period in standard (purple) bays becomes £2.00 (currently £1.00) with the hourly rate after the first two hours remaining at 50p per hour.
• One-hour minimum stay period in premium (red) bays becomes £2.50 (currently £2.00) with the hourly rate after the first hour remaining at £2.00 per hour.
• E1 employee permit daily charge becomes £3.00 for a whole day (currently £2.80) or £2.00 for five hours (currently £1.40). 
• Removal of car share permit and hotel permits due to their limited use. MK City Council will be removing this as they have cited that car share permit applications have fallen by nearly 90% in the last five years.

Drivers will remain able to switch off an optional 20p convenience fee for text notifications from provider RingGo.

MK City Council have defended the move by stating, “The proposed tariffs remain comparable to commercial parking in the city centre, and to nearby places such as Northamptonshire or Bedford, where it’s £2.00 per hour to park.”

In a separate decision next week, MK City Council stated they also plan to recommission its demand-responsive public transport service MK Connect.

This move is because the current contract for this service is due to end in March 2025. MK Connect ensures residents have a public transport option, even if they are not located near a bus stop. It transports riders who are heading in the same direction and connects them to existing bus routes where available. 

Around 500,000 MK Connect trips will be made this financial year, which is around 6% of all public transport journeys in MK; double since the service was introduced four years ago. 

Last year the city council introduced longer minimum stays for both premium and standard car parking but did not increase the hourly tariff for parking in the city centre.