Bedford Street's hour goes from £1.70 to £1.80 in April; Covent Garden stays £1.55. Green bin frozen at £51. Full Council votes on the plans on 28 October.
The green bin will stay at £51 next year, but parking will cost more at seven of the twelve council car parks in Leamington from April 2027, under fees agreed by Warwick District Council’s Cabinet on Thursday 22 October.
The council’s release on 23 October says fees will be frozen at “a majority” of its car parks across Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth, with “targeted tariff increases” at high-demand sites. The Cabinet papers name those sites, and in Leamington they are most of the town centre’s short-stay spaces.
Nothing is final yet. The council’s summary of decisions says Cabinet approved the report and passed it to Full Council on Wednesday 28 October for the final vote.
Leamington car parks: what goes up and what does not
The fee schedule (Appendix A to the report) sets these charges “from 1st April”:
Going up - Bedford Street and Chandos Street (short stay): 1 hour £1.70 to £1.80, 2 hours £3.05 to £3.20, the 4-hour maximum £5.90 to £6.20. - Rosefield Street: 1 hour £1.70 to £1.80, 10 hours £9.10 to £9.60, 24 hours £13.65 to £14.30. - St Peter’s multi-storey: 1 hour £1.55 to £1.60, 10 hours £8.30 to £8.50, 24 hours £12.45 to £12.80. - Bath Place, Court Street and Packington Place (the “Park & Stride” car parks): 1 hour £1.25 to £1.30, 11 hours £3.75 to £3.90, 24 hours £5.10 to £5.40.
Frozen - Covent Garden, both the surface car park and the multi-storey: 1 hour stays £1.55, 10 hours £8.30, 24 hours £12.45. - Adelaide Bridge: 1 hour £1.25, 10 hours £8.00. - Station Approach and Lower Road: 1 hour £1.25, 11 hours £3.75.
Overnight parking stays £2.75 everywhere.
Why some go up and others do not
The report says each car park’s price now follows how full it gets, under the parking strategy Cabinet agreed in March 2026:
- 80% full or more: up by inflation plus 2% (CPI was 2.8%, so 4.8%)
- 60 to 80% full: up by inflation (2.8%)
- under 60% full: frozen
The change at the till can be larger than those percentages: an hour at Bedford Street goes up by 10p, or about 6%.
Last year’s prices at the busy car parks went up by inflation plus 10%, the report says, and the smaller rise this time is meant to keep a price gap with quieter sites “whilst avoiding back-to-back high percentage increases that could impact town centre vitality”.
The report also proposes a 30-minute tariff for short visits at selected car parks, in Leamington Covent Garden (surface and multi-storey), Bedford Street, Packington Place, Bath Place and Court Street. The schedule prices it at £1 at Bedford Street and Covent Garden and 80p at the three Old Town car parks. Covent Garden surface car park would also become long-stay, matching the multi-storey next door so permit holders can use both.
Because the plans include new charges as well as changed ones, the council has to publish a formal notice and take objections for at least 21 days before any of the parking changes can start, the report says.
Warwick and Kenilworth
In Warwick, charges rise at Castle Lane (1 hour £1.70 to £1.80), The Butts (£1.55 to £1.60) and New Street and West Gate (£1.70 to £1.80). St Nicholas Park, Priory Road and West Rock are frozen. At Hampton Road, the free first two hours on weekdays are joined by up to four free hours on Saturdays.
In Kenilworth, Abbey End goes up (1 hour £1.45 to £1.50). Square West and Abbey Fields, where the first two hours stay free, are frozen.
Green bin: £51, and a new sack option
The garden waste permit stays at £51 for 2027/28, the same as the current permit, and still runs from 1 April to 31 March. A replacement permit stays £5.
The report says permit sales “have experienced a year-on-year decline over the past two financial years”, which it puts down mainly to drier weather and “previous price adjustments”. The freeze is meant “to stabilise participation, retain current subscribers, and encourage growth”.
It also lists a new 120-litre green waste sack at £5, for homes that cannot take a wheeled bin. Bulky waste collection fees are frozen too, which the report links to falling fly-tipping.
The crematorium: more than 1% on the main fee
The council’s release says crematorium charges will go up by “no more than 1%” in some cases. The fee schedule in the Cabinet papers shows the standard fee for a cremation of an adult at Oakley Wood rising from £1,185 to £1,230, which is 3.8%. The report describes its crematorium approach as “between frozen (0%) and CPI+1%”.
Some fees do stay put or fall:
- A cremation with no service (a direct cremation) stays £550. The report says fewer than 5% of funerals at Oakley Wood are direct cremations, against 21% nationally, “indicating this business is going elsewhere”.
- The extra charge for a Saturday service falls from £600 to £245, to match local private crematoria, where the report says demand has been lower than expected.
- Cremations for children and stillborn babies of district residents stay free.
The extra income pays for a new reserve of £75,000 a year for crematorium equipment. The cremators were installed in 2009 for about £750,000, have a working life of roughly 20 years, and replacing them and the plant around them will cost about £1.5 million, the report says.
What the council says
Councillor Jonathan Chilvers, the Cabinet portfolio holder for resources, said:
“At a time when many residents are feeling the pinch because of the cost of living, we are pleased to propose a freeze to green bin and a majority of our car park charges whilst continuing to invest in our services. We are thankful to be in a position to take these decisions for residents due to good planning, prudent budget management and the flexibility and innovation of staff in implementing our change programme.”
Across all its discretionary fees, the council expects to take £12.13 million in 2027/28, up 4.26% (£496,000) on this year’s budget of £11.64 million, which is the target set in its medium-term financial plan. Car parking is budgeted to bring in £4.56 million, against £4.39 million this year.
What it means for you
- If you park in central Leamington for an hour or two, Covent Garden stays at £1.55 an hour from April, against £1.80 at Bedford Street, Chandos Street and Rosefield Street. Our guide to parking in Leamington has every car park and this year’s full tariffs.
- If you commute and park all day, Station Approach and Lower Road stay at £3.75 for 11 hours. Bath Place, Court Street and Packington Place go to £3.90.
- If you pay for a green bin, your 2027/28 renewal is £51, the same as now.
- If you want to comment, the fees go to Full Council on 28 October, and the parking changes then need a public notice, with at least 21 days for objections, before they start.
Have your say