A petition asks for a year-long trial of one free hour in all five Medway town centres. It has 109 signatures; a full council debate needs about 14,000.

A petition on Medway Council’s own website is asking for one hour’s free parking in every Medway town centre for a year. It had 109 signatures when we checked it on Monday 5 October. It is open until 30 November.

The ePetition asks the council to run a 12-month trial in at least one council car park serving each of the five town centres:

  • Rochester
  • Chatham
  • Gillingham
  • Strood
  • Rainham

Drivers would pay the normal rate only for time after the first hour.

What the petition says

The petitioners argue that charges “have increased substantially in recent years”. They say traders and residents are worried about visitor numbers, but that the council has published no evidence of how charges affect town centre visits. They also say no “meaningful evaluation” of an earlier Medway free-parking scheme was ever published. The petition does not name that scheme.

It sets out how the trial should work:

  • the council picks the car parks and sets conditions, such as no-return periods
  • the trial runs for 12 months in every car park taking part
  • objectives, baseline figures and the method of evaluation are fixed before it starts
  • the evaluation covers car park use, town centre footfall, parking income and feedback from businesses and visitors
  • the results go to a council decision-making body within three months of the trial ending

What the first hour costs now

Most Medway council car parks use one tariff. The council’s parking charges page lists it as:

Stay Charge
Up to 30 minutes £1.00
30 minutes to 1 hour £2.90
1 to 2 hours £3.50
2 to 4 hours £4.50
4 to 6 hours £5.50
Over 6 hours £7.20

So a free first hour would save a driver up to £2.90 a visit. Rochester multi-storey has its own tariff, but its first hour is also £2.90.

Charging at most council car parks runs from 7am to 1am, every day including bank holidays. Our guide to parking in Medway lists each town’s car parks, the eight free ones and the season tickets.

How far it has to go

Medway’s petition rules set a high bar for a debate. The council’s petitions page says a petition signed by 5% or more of Medway’s population goes automatically to a meeting of the full council for debate.

The council does not give that as a number. On the 2021 census count of 279,773 Medway residents, 5% is about 13,990 signatures. On the ONS mid-2025 estimate of 292,697, it is about 14,635. The petition has well under 1% of either figure.

A smaller petition still gets an answer. The council says it acknowledges every petition within five working days. Its response can range from a letter to the lead petitioner, to a public meeting or referral to an overview and scrutiny committee. When an ePetition closes it goes to the Head of Democratic Services.

What it means for you

If you want to back the trial, you can sign on the council’s ePetition page until 30 November 2026. You need to register with the council’s petition system to sign.

The council has made no decision on free parking. Signing does not change any charge now, and the current tariff above still applies in every council car park.