Cars will no longer be towed away and impounded if they are parked illegally in Brighton and Hove.
And the car pound is also being scrapped by Brighton and Hove City Council in a move that is expected to save £400,000 a year.
Instead, cars that are causing an obstruction will be towed a short distance away to a legal parking place.
The change of policy has already had a trial run and the council said that, as when cars were impounded, drivers would be able to contact Sussex Police to find out where their car was.
The council said that it would no longer take cars to the pound in Sackville Road, Hove, because it was too harsh on drivers and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
About 900 cars a year are towed away to the car pound where release fees are £105 plus £12 a day storage.
Offending drivers will still have to pay a parking ticket fine but will not be charged extra for having been towed.
The policy change is expected to be agreed by the council’s Transport Committee next Tuesday (5 March).
The committee chairman, Councillor Ian Davey, said: “We’ve always maintained we want to make the parking rules fairer.
“Saving so much money while also scrapping the recovery fee is a win-win for residents and drivers.”
At the same meeting the council is expected to reappoint the contractor NSL to enforce on-street parking rules in Brighton and Hove for a further three years from this summer.
Twelve companies expressed interest in the contact and four were shortlisted.
The council said that the exact contract value was commercially confidential but the new deal would save £400,000 a year including £130,000 from scrapping the car pound and £100,000 in IT costs.
In the past three months the council has paid NSL, formerly part of NCP, a total of £1.15 million.
Scrapping the car pound saves the cost of paying for staff, premises, vehicles and fuel.
The report going to transport committee next Tuesday can be found by clicking here.
More here than meets the eye!
The Sackville Road area used for a car pound has recently been bought from Warner’s and added to the Coal Pension Board holdings (Sackville Trading Estate).
This has been seen by some as a bargaining chip in view of the fact that the trackside area is designated for a Waste Transfer Station and confirmed as such in the City Plan pt 1 recently agreed at Full Council (which now goes to a planning inspector).
Certainly purchase of the land BLOCKS the building of any waste transfer station there. P2 recently renewed the planning consent for ‘Sackville Place’ but this is expected to be replaced by a new planning application with a full redesign.
What is the betting the redesign will incorporate this now liberated car pound area? Has P2 cut a deal with BHCC???