Car parking charges could be introduced at Fort Nelson overflow site as part of key Hampshire County Council plan

Hampshire County Council, which has more than 100 rural car parks, said £65,000 a year could be raised by bringing in the charges at ten countryside carparks which are currently free. Currently it only has charges for car parking at its country park sites and a car park in Fleet. While it hasn’t revealed how much it would charge, it said fees could be similar to those charged by borough and district councils. If the charges are brought in, possibly by April 2025, “short-term” users like dog walkers could be able to take advantage of free parking for an hour. After an hour, fees will be charged to dissuade longer stays, such as parking for commuting purposes.

As part of the savings plan, currently under its second public consultation stage, the following 10 sites in Hampshire are proposed: A354 Martin Down; Abbots Well Road, Frogham; Crab Wood, Sarum Road, Winchester; Danebury Iron Age Hillfort (lower); Danebury Iron Age Hillfort (upper), Fort Nelson Overflow at Portsdown Hill, Hook Barn, Hook Park Road, Warsash; Hyde School, Hyde; Wall Lane, Silchester and Westwood, Netley Abbey.

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The council said that, initially, it would look at the 10 car parks because they have 20 or more spaces and could generate the most income. In addition, there may be some car parks with fewer than 20 spaces or those that are jointly owned by the council and other organisations, where car parking charges would be commercially viable.

The move is part of the county council’s plan to make £132 million worth of savings from April 2025 and public consultation is open until March 31. Other measures to cut costs and raise cash include reductions to school crossing patrols, the closure of some tips and changes at others, the dimming of street lights, reductions in funding to community transport and the arts and cuts in the library service.

You can give your feedback using the online consultation response form. Or, if you prefer to complete the response form offline, you can download a printable version. You can email a written response directly to Hampshire County Council using [email protected] or write to Freepost HAMPSHIRE (Please also write PandO, IEU, FM09 on the back of the envelope).