THE council received tens of thousands of pounds in parking permits through 2017 – since charges were introduced.

A Freedom of Information request revealed Bracknell Forest Council had received a revenue of £22,215 through local resident parking permits.

The average cost of an annual resident parking permit with Bracknell Forest Council is £61.

There were 563 residents who purchased parking permits from January 1 2017 - December 31 2017.

In 2017, the cost of a visitor permit was also introduced. Beforehand, visitors to Bracknell were able to receive a visitor parking permit for no additional charge.

Now, however, the cost is £25 for a visitor permit.

Other parking permits which used to be free now also incur a charge. 

The cost of a first permit per household is £25, previously being free, while a second permit for the household, which also used to be free, now costs £40. 

A third permit is now £60, which has tripled in price, as it used to 
be £20. A fourth permit has doubled from £40 to £80, and a fifth permit has increased from £70 to £100.

Steve Loudoun, chief officer for environment and public protection, said: "The council carried out a full and extensive consultation process on the proposed introduction of a permanent resident parking scheme following a pilot which ran between 2014 and 2016. The scheme was designed to ensure residents living close to the town centre are protected, where possible, from increased parking pressures due to the rising number of people coming to visit, work or shop in The Lexicon.

"As part of the consultation process, residents were made aware that a charge would need to be introduced for all resident parking permits, including visitor permits. Based on community feedback, a final decision to introduce a tailored scheme to specific areas was made, rather than retaining the scheme in all trial areas; this was made based on majority feedback from residents of those areas affected.

"The council does not profit from this scheme; the parking permit charges were set based on other Berkshire local authority parking permits schemes and allow the scheme to be self-funding as, with the funding pressures the council is facing, it does not have the resources to subsidise the scheme."