Folkestone & Hythe DC’s parking charges: five years of steep rises, a seafront summer premium, and 2026/27 proposals under scrutiny

Folkestone & Hythe’s District Council’s discretionary parking charges have been ratcheted up across four agreed budgets (2022/23–2025/26) and one set of proposals for 2026/27 (Item 8)—and the steepest steps land where drivers feel them most. The town-centre on-street hour in CPZ A1/A2 rises 73% from £1.50 to £2.60; Princes Parade all-day climbs 73% from £9.00 to £15.60; hotel-guest permits double from £3.00 to £6.00; and the parking-suspension day rate leaps from £12 to £30 per six-metre bay (with the admin fee moving £100 → £120). At the seafront, Tram Road/Harbourside shifts from a single all-day price to a higher summer premium—£15.00, moving to £15.60 in the 2026/27 proposals—while the winter rate climbs from £8.40 to £12.60 over the period.

These are locally set (discretionary) prices under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (RTRA 84), which allows councils to manage parking and recover costs—but not to use tariffs primarily as a revenue lever. Given the size and concentration of the increases—particularly on core on-street time, visitor permits and suspensions—the council now owes the public a clear, line-by-line cost case for each rise. The 2026/27 schedule remains proposed and may change. The data to date shows a firm upward pattern that demands full transparency before any new steps are signed off.

What Changed, Where – And By How Much?

From the published FHDC schedules (prices “as paid” with VAT where applicable):

• On-street (CPZ A1/A2, 1 hour): £1.50 → £1.80 → £2.00 → £2.60 → £2.60 (proposed)  –  +73.3% since 2022/23.

• Off-street (Folkestone short stay, 1 hour): £1.40 → £1.60 → £1.80 → £2.00 → £2.10 (proposed)  –  +50.0% since 2022/23.

• Tram Road/Harbourside (all-day, winter): £8.40 → £9.60 → £10.80 → £12.00 → £12.60 (proposed)  –  +50.0% since 2022/23.

• Tram Road/Harbourside (all-day, summer): — → — → £15.00 → £15.00 → £15.60 (proposed)
  Summer premium introduced 2024/25; +4.0% in 2026/27 proposal.

• Princes Parade, Hythe (on-street all-day): £9.00 → £10.20 → £12.00 → £15.60 → £15.60 (proposed)  –  +73.3% since 2022/23.

• CPZ permits (first resident): £35.00 → £38.30 → £42.00 → £45.00 → £45.00 (proposed freeze)  –  +28.6% since 2022/23.

• Visitor permits (5 sessions): £6.00 → £6.60 → £8.00 → £10.00 → £10.00 (proposed freeze)  –  +66.7% since 2022/23.

• Hotel-guest permit (24h): £3.00 → £3.30 → £4.00 → £6.00 → £6.00 (proposed)  –  +100% since 2022/23.

• Parking suspensions (per 6m bay, day rate): £12 (’23/24) → £14 (’24/25) → £30 (’25/26); admin fee £100 → £110 → £120.

Editorial verdict: the headline rises are not uniform. Most core tariffs track a firm upward path; three lines stand out for scale and impact on everyday life: on-street 1-hour, hotel-guest permits, and suspensions. The summer premium at seafront car parks also materially changes a family day out.

Where The Cash Hits Hardest

Seasonal pricing concentrates higher charges where demand peaks—Tram/Harbourside (gateway to Sunny Sands/Harbour Arm) and Princes Parade. Absolute increases at these sites are large in pounds, not just in percentage terms. Meanwhile, central on-street rises affect frequent short stays for shopping, school runs and errands.

The Legal Rails: Discretionary, But Not A Revenue Lever

• Discretionary in amount, but constrained in purpose. Parking charges are set locally under RTRA 1984—not under LGA 2003 s.93.

• On-street/enforcement surpluses go to the parking account (s.55) and can only be used for transport-related purposes.

• Attfield v Barnet (2013): parking prices (including permits) cannot be used primarily to raise general revenue; the Act “is not a fiscal measure.”

• Implication here: where rises are steep or concentrated, councillors should publish costings—staff time, machines, maintenance, enforcement, depreciation, forecast usage—to demonstrate cost cover and traffic management, rather than fiscal gap-plugging.

Editorial verdict: with 73% rises on key on-street rates and 100% on hotel-guest permits, the council should put the costing worksheets in public. If the numbers show genuine cost pressure and demand management, the rises are defensible; if not, they risk straying toward impermissible revenue raising.

Heat, By Location: How All-Day Long Stay Prices Moved

Permits, Visitors And Regular Users

Residents in Controlled Parking Zones saw the first permit rise from £35 → £45 (now a proposed freeze), while visitor books climbed £6 → £10. Business permits moved £65 → £90. For frequent parkers in council long-stay car parks, the annual season ticket (7-day) rose from £657 → £827 across the period.

Are those levels out of kilter? Relative to inflation, some lines look punchy; others (e.g., resident permits) are firm but not extreme. What matters legally is purpose and evidence: do these charges reflect cost of provision/management and demand control, or are they padding general finances?

What A Year Now Costs In Real Life

We modelled three simple “baskets” from the official schedules:

1. Local shopper: 2 × 1-hour off-street short-stay per week × 48 weeks

2. Resident: CPZ first permit + 20 guest sessions (four books)

3. Beach family: 6 summer all-days + 2 winter all-days at Tram/Harbourside

Method And Accuracy

• Sources are the FHDC Fees & Charges / Parking schedules for 22/23, 23/24, 24/25, 25/26 and the 26/27 (proposed) schedule considered by members.

• “Price” means price paid (with VAT where applicable).

• Like-for-like comparisons use identical tariff descriptions (same location, duration, season).

Conclusion

Folkestone & Hythe’s parking regime hasn’t drifted—it has stepped. The steps are most visible where they matter most: a +73% on the on-street 1-hour, a summer premium that makes a family day far pricier at the coast, a doubling for hotel-guest permits, and suspensions that now land hard on trades and event organisers. Because parking prices are discretionary under the RTRA, the council must show—openly—that each change is grounded in genuine cost and traffic management, not fiscal need.

If FHDC can publish clear costings and purpose for each steep line, councillors can approve the 2026/27 proposals with confidence. If not, the largest uplifts should be re-profiled or paused and revisited with the evidence the law—and residents—are entitled to expect.

The Shepway Vox Team

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