Cherwell will not bring in the £1.60 overnight charge in Banbury and Bicester car parks. Anyone who paid for an evening can claim a refund. How to ask.

Parking in Cherwell District Council’s car parks in Banbury and Bicester will stay free after 6pm. The council’s Executive has said it will not go ahead with the £1.60 overnight charge that was due to start on 28 September.

The leader, Councillor Lesley McLean, announced it at Full Council on Monday evening, 19 October. The council published the decision the next day. It still has to go to a future Executive meeting for formal approval.

The council’s parking page now carries a notice. It says there are currently no overnight parking charges in its Banbury and Bicester car parks. It also says:

  • the parking apps are still being updated
  • drivers should not pay for overnight parking
  • anyone charged incorrectly can apply for a refund

Refund requests go to parking.services@cherwell-dc.gov.uk. The notice does not say what evidence to send. A screenshot of the app payment or the ticket, with the car park, date and time, is the obvious thing to include.

That notice was not on the page when the Internet Archive last captured it on 13 October, so it went up at some point in the past nine days.

How we got here

The charge came from a statutory notice dated 3 September. It set £1.60 for up to 14 hours between 6pm and 8am, every day, in 22 council car parks across the two towns. We reported it on 13 September. The council put out no news release at the time.

From then on its own record contradicted itself. The notice said evenings would be charged from 28 September. The council’s car park directory kept saying “free parking after 6:00pm”. When we checked on 11 and 18 October, almost every car park page still said so.

The council’s release now says the change follows “an initial pause on implementing the overnight parking charges”. Until this week, no council page we could find had said there was a pause.

What the council said

Cllr McLean said: “We have listened to businesses and residents, and we are clear that introducing overnight parking charges is not the right decision for Banbury and Bicester.”

She added that the council wanted “to encourage people into our town centres, not put additional barriers in their way”, particularly for businesses in the evening economy.

Councillor Rob Pattenden, the portfolio holder for property and assets, said: “Ruling out overnight charges is another positive step in our wider ambition to help Banbury and Bicester thrive.”

The Executive has also committed to a strategic review of all parking charges. It says it will engage with residents, businesses and other stakeholders. No timetable has been published.

What has not changed

The release is only about the overnight band. It says nothing about the rest of the September notice. On 22 October the council’s car park pages showed:

  • daytime charges as before: £1.60 for an hour, £2.80 for two, £7.50 for the day in a long stay car park, from 8am to 6pm
  • Sundays and bank holidays still charged: £1.60 for an hour, then a £2.20 flat rate, until 6pm
  • “Free parking after 6:00pm” on the Bolton Road, Cattle Market and Market Place pages we read

The same notice raised season ticket prices and the Bridge Street drop-off fee, from 50p to 70p. The council has not said whether either is affected. The drop-off page showed 70p when we checked on 18 October.

What it means for you

An evening in town costs nothing to park again, in any council car park in Banbury or Bicester, from 6pm to 8am.

Do not pay in the app after 6pm. The council says the apps have not all been updated yet.

If you paid for an evening since 28 September, email parking.services@cherwell-dc.gov.uk for a refund.

Daytime is unchanged. Our guide to parking in Banbury has the current tariff for every council car park, plus Castle Quay and the station.

Sources