By Martyn Smith

Copyright expressandstar

The council will bring in a 50p charge for thirty minutes, a £1 charge for one hour and £2 for two hours; other fees for longer stays are expected to remain the same.

The changes will be made as soon as signs have been produced and parking machines have been modified to implement the new fees.

Council leader Councillor Patrick Harley made the announcement during a debate of the authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday (September 17).

Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Harley said: “It’s not possible to charge nothing because there was never a budget for maintaining car parks. At least with a small charge we can maintain car parks and improve them.

“I hope we can try and give something back to the traders and businesses who have stuck with Dudley and our other town centres.”

The council introduced charging for short stays in its car parks in October 2024.

A report for the meeting revealed the council had lost £150,000 since May 2024 after a drop in memberships by 830 at the Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre in Dudley.

Councillor Harley accepted that some of the drop in membership at the centre to 2,126 may be related to parking charges but he said he believes there are other factors at play.

He said: “If you delve into the figures for previous years membership was dropping then, I think car parking has played a part but I don’t think it’s a significant factor.

“It really is the cost of living with people, they can’t afford it in the current climate.”

He added membership levels can also fluctuate through the year and numbers tend to increase after Christmas.

Councillor Keiran Casey, of the council’s Labour opposition group, told the committee: “Over 800 less memberships at somewhere like Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre is really concerning.

“What is the reason for that, is it because of parking charges?

“That is a serious loss of income when we need to be utilising facilities like that to generate income.”