HAMPSHIRE County Council will take over the management of on-street parking services across the Winchester district from the start of October.

This will include parking enforcement and residents' parking permits. The council already manages on-street parking services across all other borough and district authority areas in Hampshire.

Councillor Nick Adams-King, the county council’s cabinet member for universal services, said: “Historically, on-street parking management has been delegated to local district and borough councils to carry out on our behalf. However, since 2020, this role has been transferring back to the County Council. 

“As of next month, responsibility for existing residential parking schemes, including the issuing of new permits across all parts of Winchester, will also return to the County Council. People who live in a residential parking zone in the city, and are eligible for a parking permit, will soon be receiving a letter from the County Council providing more information about this change.

"The aim is to offer a single, more consistent countywide service and in doing so, we will be using technology to make the system more customer-friendly and cost-efficient, for example through the introduction of digital rather than paper-based parking permits.”

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The county council’s on-street parking service in Winchester will be managed as follows:

From October 1, new on-street residents’ parking permits will be digital, rather than paper-based, although current paper permits will remain valid until the date of their expiry. All new permits issued by Hampshire County Council will need to be applied for online via MiPermit, which will allow residents to apply through an app, online, or over the telephone.

Residents themselves will be able to activate visitor permits and make changes, such as updating their vehicle details, and changes will show immediately on the enforcement officers handheld terminals.  Anyone with permits that expire in October will be given an additional month to renew their permits, to allow sufficient time to activate a MiPermit account.

Meanwhile, the county council’s parking services provider, NSL, will be responsible for on-street parking enforcement across Winchester district. Customers will continue to be able to pay for parking using the same methods as they do currently.

Additionally, responsibility for off-street car parking will remain with the city council, or other private companies, except for Durngate Car Park in Winchester which is already managed by the County Council.