A new Sunday and bank holiday band cuts three hours at The Pavilions from £3.90 to £2. Park View leaves the parking order. Call-in deadline 22 September.
Parking in Horsham town centre on a Sunday currently costs one of two prices: up to two hours, or all day. From this month there will be a third. Horsham District Council has approved a 2 to 3 hour band on Sundays and bank holidays at its four camera-operated car parks, at rates between £2 and £5.20 (decision notice, 14 September 2026).
For a three-hour stay it is cheaper than the all-day ticket you have to buy today. The saving is biggest at The Pavilions, where £3.90 becomes £2.
What it costs on a Sunday now, and what it will cost
| Car park | Up to 2 hours | New 2 to 3 hours | All day |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Pavilions | £1.20 | £2.00 | £3.90 |
| The Forum | £2.20 | £3.30 | £4.30 |
| Swan Walk | £2.80 | £4.40 | £5.50 |
| Piries Place | £3.50 | £5.20 | £6.70 |
The new rates are exactly the same as the 2 to 3 hour prices already charged Monday to Saturday, so the Sunday tariff simply fills a gap in the table (Appendix A, current tariffs).
The council says it came from customers asking for something between the two-hour and all-day options. Its report describes the change as “anticipated to be broadly revenue neutral” and says it is meant to improve choice rather than raise money.
Two other changes in the same decision
Park View car park is being removed from the parking order. The council says the site has been redeveloped for its own operational purposes and is no longer available for public parking. Season ticket holders who used it have been moved elsewhere, and the council records no financial effect from the change.
Lintot Square car park in Southwater gains a permit. The Horsham District Council Permit will be valid there Monday to Saturday, midnight to midnight, excluding Sundays and bank holidays, with a maximum stay of 24 consecutive hours and a one-hour no-return period. Lintot Square is the only genuinely free council car park in the district, and it normally has a two-hour maximum stay. The permit exists so that a local business whose staff need longer than that is not penalised.
When it actually takes effect
Not immediately, and the dates matter if you want a say.
The decision was taken by Councillor Mark Baynham, the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, on 14 September and published on 15 September. It is subject to call-in, which means other councillors can ask for it to be looked at again. The call-in deadline is 22 September, and if nobody calls it in the decision comes into force on 23 September. The council’s decision register showed no call-in requests when we checked it on 18 September.
The prices themselves need a further step. Changing the charges means varying the Horsham District Council (Off-Street Parking Places) (Consolidation) Order 2023, and that process is set out in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. The council’s report lists what it has to do:
- get West Sussex County Council’s consent to the order, and submit a draft the county can require changes to
- consult the chief officer of police and anyone else the regulations require
- publish notice of the proposals in a local newspaper
- allow at least 21 days for objections, and consider any that arrive
- publish notice within 14 days of making the order
So the new band is approved in principle, but it is not law until the variation order is made. The report delegates the making of that order to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, and only if no objections come in during the consultation.
What it means for you
If you regularly park in the town centre on a Sunday or a bank holiday for a bit longer than two hours, this is worth between £1.00 and £1.90 a visit to you, depending on the car park. The Pavilions is the cheapest of the four either way.
If you object to the change, the moment to say so is the 21-day objection period once the council advertises the variation order. That notice has to appear in a local newspaper, so watch for it rather than waiting for a letter.
If you are a Park View user, note the council’s position is that the car park has already gone rather than that it is closing. Our guide to parking in Horsham covers where the remaining town centre car parks are, the Hop Oast park and ride, and how the camera systems bill you.
One footnote that regular readers of these decisions will notice. The notice ends with the line: “This decision notice has been prepared with the support of artificial intelligence tools. All content has been reviewed and approved by the report author.” The council signed a two-year AI training contract for staff on 30 June, and that declaration is now appearing at the foot of its reports.
Have your say