Save on parking costs with a permit 

If you park regularly in our car parks, we have two permits offering a cost-effective way to pay. 

Flexi stay permit: Ideal for those who park all day for work. This permit can be used in most Dorset Council car parks by residents, and non-residents working in the council area. It is available to buy monthly or annually 

Short stay permit: Perfect if you park for shorter periods, such as shopping, appointments or leisure. This permit allows for a parking session of up to 3 hours every day. It can be registered for up to two cars (they cannot use it at the same time), offering more opportunities to get the full benefit. It is available to buy annually. 

Cllr Jon Andrews, Cabinet Member for Place Services at Dorset Council, said: “We are all feeling the pressure of continued rising costs, including the council.  

“With the increasing demands on council services, the ongoing reduction in government funding, and rising inflation, our parking tariffs will increase from 3 April to meet these challenges and continue to support our highways responsibilities. 

“Our permits offer a money saving way to pay for parking. For example, if you work in Dorchester five days a week 48 weeks of the year, with our Flexi Stay permit your parking would work out at £1.28 a day compared to £6.30 a day without a permit.” 

See the tariffs to take effect from 3 April 2025. The new tariffs are provided in the second of the two tables for each town headed 'Time of stay and new charge'.

Parking app fee 

A fee of 10p is also to be introduced when using JustPark (via app, phone or text) to pay for parking.   

The fee (including VAT of just under 2p) will cover JustPark’s payment maintenance operations and will be added each time a new parking session is paid for on the app. 

Cllr Andrews continued: “Until now, we have been covering the fee from our parking income, but we can no longer afford to do this without impacting other services. In most other counties where JustPark operates, the 10p fee is already paid by motorists who use the service.  

“It is a convenient way to pay for parking, but you can avoid the 10p fee by paying for parking by cash, credit card or contactless payment at any of our car park machines.”  

The 10p fee will also apply when using the JustPark in car parks run by the town councils of Bridport, Shaftesbury and Sherborne which utilise Dorset Council’s Just Park contract. Current users of the JustPark app will be notified of the change by email.

Dorset Echo correction

You may have seen the article in the Dorset Echo on Friday 14 March. This contains confusing information about our parking charges per day.

Charges over £30 are for vehicles longer than 4.8 metres, eg motorhomes, coaches, lorries, vehicles towing a trailer etc, using our multi use car parks.

The maximum charge in our car parks for cars and other standard sized vehicles £15.80. That charge is for between 8am and 6pm, then it is free overnight. (The only exception is Chesil, for which the owners have a private agreement with us and the tariff is £20 for 24 hours.)

Check how the savings stack up with a permit 

 Calculation example based on prices after 3 April 2025.  Apply now and beat the price increases dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/permits 

See our Short stay and Flexi stay webpages for qualifying car parks. 

Permit type	Annual cost	Monthly cost	Parking duration	Example savings
Short stay (valid for two cars, not parked at same time)	£95	N/A	3 hours every day	1) Park twice a week for 3 hours each for shopping, coffee, appointments etc, 52 weeks a year in the Swannery car park, Weymouth.  With a Short stay permit, that costs just over 91p per 3-hour session.  Without a permit, each 3 hour session would cost £3.30, or annually £343 2) Park twice a week for 3 hours each for shopping, coffee, appointments etc, 52 weeks a year in Fairfield car park, Dorchester With a short stay permit, that costs just over 91p per 3-hour session. Without a permit, your 3 hours would cost £2.40, or an annual cost of £249.60.
Flexi stay	£305	£29	All day, every day	1) Park 5 days a week for work, 48 weeks a year, in the Swannery car park, Weymouth With an annual Flexi stay permit, the cost works out at just under £1.28 a day or £25.41 a month  Without a permit, you would pay £9.00 a day. That’s £2,160 a year or £180 a month. 2) Park 5 days a week for work, 48 weeks a year, in Fairfield car park, Dorchester With an annual Flexi Stay permit, the cost works out at just under £1.28 a day or £25.41 a month Without a permit, you’ll pay £6.30 a day. That’s £1,512 a year or £126 a month.