Parking Infrastructure and Electric Vehicle Provision (2016–2026)
Case reference FOI2026/01610
Received 10 July 2026
Published 10 August 2026
Request
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I am writing to request information regarding the council's managed parking spaces over the last 10 calendar/financial years (from 2016 to the current year, 2026).
Specifically, for each year between 2016 and 2026 inclusive, please provide the following data broken down by year:
- Entirely Free On-Street Parking: The total number of designated on-street parking spaces within the local authority area that are entirely free of charge at all times.
- Partially Free On-Street Parking: The total number of on-street parking spaces that are free during certain hours/days (e.g., free overnight, during early mornings, evenings, or weekends) but metered or restricted (for example to resident permit-holders) at other times.
- Free Off-Street Parking: The total number of parking spaces within council-operated off-street car parks that are entirely free of charge.
- Electric Vehicle (EV) Parking: The total number of parking spaces (both on-street and off-street) that are exclusively reserved for electric vehicle charging or parking.
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If data for the full calendar year of 2026 is not yet complete, please provide the most up-to-date figures available at the time of this request, or state the specific date range the 2026 data covers. If the council records this data by financial year rather than calendar year, please provide the figures on that basis instead.
If the section 12 cost limit is exceeded for any part of this request, please prioritise the most recent data (starting with 2026 and working backward) or advise me on how I might refine my request to fit within the limit.
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Response
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I am writing to request information regarding the council's managed parking spaces over the last 10 calendar/financial years (from 2016 to the current year, 2026).
Specifically, for each year between 2016 and 2026 inclusive, please provide the following data broken down by year:
- Entirely Free On-Street Parking: The total number of designated on-street parking spaces within the local authority area that are entirely free of charge at all times.
Answer: This information is not held as requested. The Service Area have advised the Council does not hold recorded information showing the number of designated on-street parking spaces that are entirely free of charge. Most on-street parking places in Herefordshire are designated through Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) as lengths of carriageway rather than individually defined parking spaces. As a result, the Council does not hold a recorded figure for the number of vehicles that may be accommodated within those lengths.
The relevant TROs are publically available on our council website and can be viewed via the following link:
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/directories/traffic-regulation-orders/
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
- Partially Free On-Street Parking: The total number of on-street parking spaces that are free during certain hours/days (e.g., free overnight, during early mornings, evenings, or weekends) but metered or restricted (for example to resident permit-holders) at other times.
Answer: Please see the response provided above.
- Free Off-Street Parking: The total number of parking spaces within council-operated off-street car parks that are entirely free of charge.
Answer: The Service Area have advised the only car parks that Herefordshire Council manage that are historically and currently free are Kington High Street, Love Lane and Market Hall Street.
The number of parking spaces are publically available on our council website and can be viewed via the following link:
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act.
- Electric Vehicle (EV) Parking: The total number of parking spaces (both on-street and off-street) that are exclusively reserved for electric vehicle charging or parking.
Answer: The Service Area have advised there are currently no on-street EV-only parking bays. Council-operated off-street car parks currently contain 24 EV charging bays in total:
· Garrick Multi-Storey (2) – these were installed before 2016.
· St Martins 1 (2) – these were newly installed in 2020.
· Venns Close (2) – these were installed before 2016.
· Broad Street, Leominster (6) – 2 were newly installed in 2020; 4 were newly installed in 2024.
· Etnam Street, Leominster (2) – these were installed before 2016.
· Edde Cross Street, Ross-on-Wye (2) – these were newly installed in 2020.
· St Katherines, Ledbury (2) – these were installed before 2016.
· Plough Lane (6) available to the public on weekends – these were newly installed in 2024.
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If data for the full calendar year of 2026 is not yet complete, please provide the most up-to-date figures available at the time of this request, or state the specific date range the 2026 data covers. If the council records this data by financial year rather than calendar year, please provide the figures on that basis instead.
If the section 12 cost limit is exceeded for any part of this request, please prioritise the most recent data (starting with 2026 and working backward) or advise me on how I might refine my request to fit within the limit.
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Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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