Cornwall car parks to stop taking cash from 1st August

If you keep a handful of pound coins in the car door for parking, that habit has an end date. From 1 August, payment machines in a number of Cornwall Council car parks will stop taking cash.

What is changing

Almost 90% of parking payments are already made by card, through the JustPark app or the Buzzpay website. Cornwall Council says dropping cash from those machines will save around £80,000 a year.

Drivers can still pay at the machine using a debit or credit card, contactless, or their phone. And the cash option is not vanishing everywhere. Coin payments will carry on in one car park in each community.

Why the council is doing it

Dan Rogerson, Cornwall Council cabinet member for transport, said it currently costs around £100,000 a year to collect, transport and process cash from the 138 council car parks that take both cash and card.

“This is money that could be far better spent on maintaining our car parks and wider highway network,” he said.

Around 12% of users still pay by cash, which is why the council is keeping coin payments in 43 car parks across Cornwall. Dan Rogerson said the council had reviewed cash usage levels, accessibility and location so that drivers who want to pay by cash can still do so in each town, in Truro, and at other spots where there is only one car park.

How to pay less to park

Anyone who parks in a council car park regularly can bring the cost down with the JustPark wallet. With it, drivers can park all day in most long stay car parks across Cornwall for less than £3.

You can find out more about the JustPark wallet on the Cornwall Council website.

The change takes effect on 1st August.