New free hour parking to be introduced in Sunderland city car parks to drive up footfall
“Every time people choose to spend time in our city centre, they're making a real difference”
Motorists heading into Sunderland city centre can benefit from a free hour of parking as the City Council updates charges at its car parks.
The city council used to offer a ‘Free After 3’ parking initiative to help increase city centre footfall, but the initiative was scaled back in January 2024.
The new Reform led council has said for every surface parking session purchased, motorists will now receive one extra hour of parking at no extra cost.
A minimum of one hour must be purchased, and the free one hour is then added on.
Beginning on Monday 26 October, the update applies to all council-run city centre surface car parks and on-street parking spaces.
Ticketing machines and city parking apps have been updated with new software and the scheme covers more than 500 surface parking spaces. These include the Station car park in Holmeside (194 spaces), Tatham Street (94 spaces), Gorse Road (54 spaces) and Nile Street (49 spaces).
The City Council's Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Enforcement, Councillor Bill Blackett said: "Our city centre already has some of the lowest parking charges around and this is about getting the balance right.
"We continually review our parking charges and we want parking to work for residents and for businesses. Making it attractive and convenient for people to park in the city centre to shop, meet friends, have something to eat, all helps support businesses and the jobs they provide.
"Remember, it's our city centre and by using it, including parking in it, we are all contributing to it. Using the city centre for goods and services is supporting businesses who might be be employing friends and neighbours.
"It’s also important to remember that income from parking is reinvested in parking and that helps keep costs down.
"We’ll run the scheme for a year and keep it under review so we can see how well it works for residents, visitors and businesses.
"Visitor numbers are up and rising across the city, we want to keep it like that, and this parking offer can help as a further incentive for residents and visitors."
The move has been welcomed by the Sunderland Business Investment District (BID) which represents around 850 city centre businesses.
Sunderland BID CEO Sharon Appleby said: “Every time people choose to spend time in our city centre, they're making a real difference. Whether it's to shop, grabbing a coffee, enjoying a meal or attending an event, the support helps local businesses grow, it supports jobs and it keeps our city centre busy, vibrant and thriving.
"These choices all add up and have a genuine impact on the people and businesses that call Sunderland home. The more we spend locally, the more we strengthen businesses and services that make the city centre such an important part of everyday life here in Sunderland."
The council’s current ‘Free After 3’ offer also continues at Gorse Road, Charles Street, West Wear Street, Tatham Street, Nile Street and Station car parks, providing free parking after 3pm Monday to Friday.
There are no changes on parking charges in the St Mary’s (480 spaces), Sunniside (653) and Riverside (657) multi-storeys.