THE cost of parking in city centre car parks in Winchester all-day could almost double if council plans are given the green light.

Winchester City Council are proposing to shake-up parking in Winchester to encourage people to use the park and ride facilities in the city instead of using central car parks.

Council chiefs say that they are looking to to change key parking tariffs in the city to encourage use of the park and ride facilities.

But the plans means those using car parks in the city centre will have to pay significantly more for all-day parking.

Winchester Business Improvement District (Winchester BID) say they are in favour of the plans and will be working closely with the city council.

Business Development Director Chris Turner said: "I think more and more businesses would rather their staff use the park and ride, and they can then help them with contributions towards the cost.

"I think broadly we are going to be fairly involved in the consultations so that staff can use a park and ride that is affordable and efficient."

If the scheme is given final green light, it means visitors using the central car parks will be required to pay a “premium charge”, and the cost of season tickets will also increase, there will also be increases for users of Chesil Multi-Storey Car Park.

Council bosses say the scheme aims to “discourage” drivers who want to stay for more than four hours from using the city centre car parks,and encourage them to use facilities further away from the city centre which are cheaper.

As part of the plans the council is also look into upgrading the park and ride car parks to cope with additional bus service capacity.

It is estimated that the plans will general an extra £233,000 – and it comes as the city council is looking to raise funds after a loss of government funding.

These changes may prove popular with Winchester Action on Climate Change who have previously argued that air quality is a major problem in Winchester.

The consultation, which was carried out with residents in the city revealed the plans may prove decisive as 46 per cent of people argued that pricing should not reflect premium locations, and 46 per cent did not agree that there should be significant difference between the different pricing rings.

A further 52 per cent were against prices increasing if other charges decrease, and 74 per cent disagreed that parking charges should increase to encourage people to park further away from the city centre.

The changes mean the cost of parking in the short stay tariffs which are range from one hour to four hours in the central car parks will only increase by 10p.

Meanwhile all day parking will be introduced in centre car parks, but will come at a higher price which aims to stop the practice of drivers “hunting all day spaces”.

The off-street inner car park cost will be reduced from one hour to four hours.

More significantly the cost of parking for more than four hours in Chesil Multi Storey Car Park will cost an extra £1 per day to bring it in line with all other car parks in the same price band, season ticket prices will also go up as part of this.

Drivers parking all-day in one of the centre car parks like Tower Street and Gladstone Street in Winchester will also be stung as the prices will increase from £8 to £15.

The plans will be discussed at the next Winchester City Council cabinet traffic and parking committee on January 4.