Motorists in Nantwich and Crewe face paying for car parking until 10pm on Cheshire East Council car parks from May.
And they will also have to pay to park on Sundays when it is currently free.
Council chiefs say the controversial new changes are needed because of the “financial challenges” the authority is facing.
There will be an increase in some parking charges and permits.
Low tariff bands will increase for up to one hour from £0.60 to £0.70, and for 1-2 hours from £1 to £1.10. Longer stays will also increase by 10p.
There will also be a new tariff band that will allow motorists to buy parking for up to 14 hours.
Cllr Mark Goldsmith, chair of Cheshire East Council’s highways and transport committee, said: “When benchmarked against neighbouring councils, it is clear that our current parking charges are significantly lower.
“Nor do they reflect inflation as this is also only the second time parking charges have been increased since Cheshire East was formed in 2009.
“Coupled with the council’s financial challenges, we have little option but to look at how we maximise our income and ensure that the charges we collect are sufficient to help cover the rising costs of maintaining, managing, and enforcing our car parks.
“Any surplus from parking charges is money that can be used to support other services that fall under the highways and transport committee, for example roads maintenance or Sunday and evening bus services.
“I am pleased that the council’s ‘free after 3pm’ initiative remains in operation at one car park in each of our towns and villages, which we know is a popular initiative with residents and shoppers.
“Short stay on-street parking bays in many towns remain free too as we have not introduced charging for these facilities, unlike many other councils.
“Additional Sunday and evening bus services are also being introduced from 31 March as part of the council’s bus service improvement plans.”
The exact date the changes will come into effect in May is being finalised.
The authority says the changes will be available on the council’s website and will be publicised in car parks.
The changes follow approvals given at a January 2024 highways and transport committee.
Absolutely useless council and the monkeys in charge of the so called Coordination of the utility companies are the worst!
Well Cheshire East, you never fail to disappoint me,just when you think as an organisation you can’t get anything more wrong, you manage to better the last outstanding effort in both wasting money and making the area worst
You have no plan and no skills and are an utterly useless council, time for change.
Evidence suggest that incompetence is rewarded within Cheshire East Council. Policies that fail to deliver, bring value and benefit to the council payer and waste what totals millions of pounds continue without accountability. This has to stop.
In a democracy, those elected , directors and officers appointed are there to represent the population they serve. They receive well paid salaries, gold plated pensions not available to other tax payers.
The democratic process fails to hold them responsible, accountable for failure and incompetence.
My experience of a career in a major private sector financial organisation is that if you fail to deliver you will face capability proceedings and ultimate dismissal following due process.
I fail to understand, you can build a multi storey car park, waste 11 million pounds, run the operation at a huge annual loss and keep your job.
It is beyond belief.
Sadly this is just one of a number of situations where strategy has been critically wrong.
Where does it end?
Sadly the ripple affect is felt every where, including Nantwich.
CEC just destroying people going out into Towns. Expensive enough to go out for a few drinks, or a meal, or to a show, so they slap extra parking fees onto people and businesses. At this rate, with salaries diminishing, extortionate burden Labour are applying to every household, there will no be spare cash to have for leisure time.
The demise of Nantwich continues, roads awful, access to Nantwich centre not great, parking awful, bus services west of Nantwich poor and parking expensive for what Nantwich offers. Chester park n ride , with free parking , cheaper than Nantwich, more to see, more to do, more places to eat, super good food market , positive environment. Nantwich is declining and Cheshire East are the architects of this decline, expensive rents, vacant premises, no imagination to bring in a younger generation,
Is there anyway we can dissolve our relationship as a town away from Cheshire East so funding is direct to the town and we can run our own ship so to speak.
This is another nail in the coffin of Nantwich. Goodbye nighttime economy, goodbye relaxed Sunday stroll and goodbye going to church to pray for free parking
Can they afford the salary to pay someone to patrol the car parks? If everyone boycotted paying for parking outside the current hours could they afford to prospect all those people?
CEC has not fully used £26 milion of Government funding for road maintenance for the last few years. No explanation on where it has gone.
“Council chiefs say the controversial new changes are needed because of the “financial challenges” the authority is facing.”
Yet they spend £22,000 on dishwashers for 8 kitchens at Delemere house?
This shower of cavalier incompetents shouldn’t be trusted with the time, never mind tax payers money.
You watch the shops in Nantwich start to close due the drop in footfall.