City to replace voucher parking

The change will see some charges rise from £1.20 to £4.50

Cardiff council is set to replace voucher parking in the city centre with pay-and-display meters from October.

Prices in some bays will rise from £1.20 for five hours to £4.50. The council said the scheme will make parking easier for visitors.

Details of changing the short and long-stay parking in 47 roads have been advertised in newspapers.

Plans for Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ) in the city's central areas were scrapped in March following protests.

The council's website states its parking policy is to provide adequate parking to promote the city while also reducing car usage and promoting sustainable transport.

The scale of charges will start at £1.50 for an hour to £4.50 for five hours.

'Out-of-town centres'

Jane O'Toole, of Canton Residents Action Committee, was one of those who led the protests against CPZs.

She said: "I was aware when they were trying to bring in CPZs they said they would have to increase parking charges in town.

"I know the council's end goal in this is to get people out of their cars and on to public transport.

"Are these changes just going to drive people to out-of-town centres and is the centre of Cardiff going to become a ghost town?"

Last month, two separate surveys found Cardiff was the least "car-friendly" place in the UK and had traffic problems that were "worse than London".