From the District Council website:
From 10 October 2011, the Council is introducing a series of improvements in the way you pay for parking across all car parks in the District.
a photo of a car park signThe Council has purchased new pay and display parking machines to offer you a variety of different payment options and offer the best value for money. In addition to you still being able to make payments by cash, the main changes will be:
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* Payment by credit/debit card ? The machines will allow you to pay using a ?Chip & Pin? verification facility, the same as when using your card for any other transaction.
* Payment by mobile phone ? The machines will display full details explaining how to pay using your mobile phone. You will also be able to receive a text message to remind you when your ticket is due to expire and allow you to top-up your ticket should you be delayed in returning to your vehicle.
* Linear charging ? This means if you do not have the exact coinage and have to ?overpay? for your chosen tariff, you will receive any extra paid as time on your ticket. This will be calculated relative to the next time-band and will mean you get better value for money. For example, if you paid for an hours parking (80p) with a one pound coin, you would receive 1 hour 20 minutes of parking.
* Reintroduction of the half-hour time-band ? Following requests from customers and traders and feedback from our customer surveys, the Council has decided to reintroduce the half-hour time-band. In the past, when the half-hour time-band was offered, many motorists underestimated their time required and incurred Penalty Charge Notices so the facility to purchase a half-hour ticket will be reviewed after six months.
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The Council also hopes to have a ?Wave and Pay? system operational soon. This means the machines will accept debit cards that have a chip fitted allowing contactless payments. This provides motorists with a speedier transaction for small payments without the need to enter a PIN number.
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New Parking Charges
There will be a minimal increase in tariffs for the one, two and three hour time-bands only, this will be the first increase in these tariffs since 2007. The new parking tariff will be:
Up to ? hour ?0.40
Up to 1 hour ?0.80
Up to 2 hours ?1.40
Up to 3 hours ?2.00
Up to 4 hours ?2.40
Up to 5 hours ?3.00
All-day ?5.00
Parked in Wickford recently on a Saturday – free all day and during the week the charge is only 50p an hour and 80p for two hours!
Also you can park at Rayleigh Station all day, after 9.30 a.m., for the princely sum of £3.30 too!
CCR