Start date confirmed for Edinburgh city centre Sunday parking charges

The extension of pay-and-display charges to Sunday afternoons between 12.30pm and 6.30pm, in zones one to four, will begin on April 11. This covers areas such as George Street, Castle Street and Chambers Street.

Other changes under Edinburgh City Council’s Parking Action Plan include a rise in the number of “shared use” parking bays, being introduced in zones one to eight from April 6. This means either permit holders or pay-and-display customers can use the same spaces. The council says another 3,000 extra spaces will be available to permit holders, many of which will be shared use parking spaces.

This will affect both city centre streets and also areas like Stockbridge, New Town, Newington and Bruntsfield.

The local authority says Sunday parking charges reflect Edinburgh now being a ‘seven-day city’ with many shops, restaurants and visitor attractions open throughout the week. They say new controls will help them manage bad parking and will bring them in line with other UK cities already charging on Sundays including Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham.

Business chiefs have criticised the move and say extended free parking on Sundays could give city centre businesses the “leg up when they need it most” as they try to recover from the pandemic.

The council says its Parking Action Plan, approved by the Transport and Environment Committee in 2016, is key to their ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030 and supports a ten-year strategy to rethink how people and goods move around the city, reducing dominance of traffic and creating streets and spaces for people.

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