Reading Borough Council introduced digital parking permits in November 2023.
The council wanted to introduce digital permits for visitors at that time as well.
However, neighbours involved in the trial scheme in Caversham faced difficulties during that period, prompting the council to make adjustments and conduct a retrial.
Both trials took place in parking zone 02R, which covers King’s Road, Queen’s Road and Coldicutt Street, with the second trial beginning in March last year.
How digital parking permits in Reading are working
Councillors have now decided to overhaul residential street parking throughout Reading.
During the trial, neighbours were given two free packs and up to five charged packs of visitor permits per year, with each pack containing 120 one-hour sessions.
They were therefore given 240 hours of free visitor parking and 600 hours of paid parking sessions, all managed from their online account.
The way digital visitor parking was managed during the trial will be introduced borough-wide later this year.
The overhaul also changes how parking permits for schools are managed.
Once the change is introduced, schools will have the power to determine which members of staff can use the permits, and will pay residents’ rates for these permits.
Additionally, motorcyclists will have to pay £48 for the first time.
Previously, motorbikes could be parked for free, as there was no reasonable place for a biker to put a physical permit.
The digital scheme is based on registration plates, allowing the council to charge for motorcycle parking.
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These changes were debated at a meeting of the council’s traffic management sub-committee.
Councillor Will Cross (Labour, Redlands) welcomed the change, arguing that the current situation led to his visitor permits being used up due to permits being split into morning (8am to 2pm) and evening (2pm to 10am overnight) sessions.
Cllr Cross said: “I recently had cause to wish that this scheme had already been introduced, as a tradesman attended my property for about an hour and a half, just spanning the cut-off between the morning and the afternoon session.
“As a result of that, I had to use a whole day’s worth of visitors’ sheets to cover that.
“Under the new digital scheme, I would only have had to pay for an hour or two, and that flexibility would have been welcome, and it will be welcome.”
‘It’s simply bad for Reading’: neighbours hit out at emissions based parking charges
The new digital visitor permits and overhaul of street parking were unanimously approved on Wednesday, June 11.
The changes are due to be introduced in October this year, alongside emissions-based charges for permits, which were also agreed at the meeting.
The new charges will be introduced based on the emissions that cars emit.