Half-price parking for electric vehicles

PARKING rules could be eased for people who drive electric vehicles.

South Oxfordshire District Council is considering offering them half-price permits and additional parking facilities in its car parks.

It is also proposing that charging periods are applied between 9am and 5pm at all town centre car parks across the district so they are line with each other.

This would also include an hour’s free parking at any time during that period.

Councillor David Rouane, cabinet member for the environment, said: “We encourage people to have their say on the proposals we are putting forward for how we operate our car parks.

“These include introducing a Sunday parking fee aimed at improving the availability of parking spaces for shoppers and bringing more people to our town centre shops and cafés.

“Even with these proposals our parking charges remain low compared to many other areas.

“We are putting forward measures that will help reduce vehicle emissions by making electric charging bays more widely available and ensuring it’s cheaper to park electric vehicles.

We hope that by doing this more people will be encouraged to move away from petrol and diesel vehicles.”

A public consultation will run until November 19 with a view to the changes taking effect next year.

To have your say, visit southoxon.gov.uk/parking