1,622 people signed a petition on Sawbridgeworth's parking charges and roadworks. It goes to East Herts Council on Wednesday 14 October. What Bell Street costs.
A petition signed by 1,622 people, asking East Herts Council to review Sawbridgeworth’s car parking charges and the effect of roadworks on the town’s shops, goes before full Council on Wednesday 14 October. It was submitted on 2 October and is the first item of business after the minutes (Petition to support Sawbridgeworth businesses, Council agenda item 6a).
The petition’s wording, as printed in the agenda, is short:
“Have the recent increase in car parking charges and the ongoing road works affected the way [you] shop in Sawbridgeworth, or caused you to avoid Sawbridgeworth? By signing this petition, you support a review of the current car parking charges and the impact of the ongoing roadworks on Sawbridgeworth’s businesses.”
The agenda does not name the organiser, and the council does not publish organisers’ details. Sawbridgeworth is about four miles south of Bishop’s Stortford on the A1184.
What the petition can and cannot do on Wednesday
East Herts runs a petition scheme. A petition with 150 or more signatures can be presented to a Council meeting, and whoever presents it can speak for up to three minutes. The scheme is explicit about what happens next: “the Council meeting is unable to debate your petition, the relevant Executive Member will respond to you at the meeting” (East Herts Council petition scheme).
So Wednesday produces a response, not a decision. A review of charges, if one follows, would be a matter for the council’s Executive, which sets car park tariffs.
What parking in Sawbridgeworth costs now
East Herts Council runs one car park in the town, Bell Street (CM21 9AA): 96 spaces, two of them Blue Badge bays, open 24 hours and charged Monday to Saturday, 7.30am to 6.30pm. Blue Badge holders park free for up to three hours (Bell Street car park, East Herts Council).
The last published change to those charges took effect on Monday 7 April 2025. The council’s notice of variation sets out the before and after for Bell Street:
| Stay | Before April 2025 | Since April 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 30 minutes | Free | Free |
| 1 hour | 50p | 70p |
| 2 hours | 90p | £1.40 |
| 3 hours | £1.50 | £2.10 |
| 4 hours | £2.10 | £2.80 |
| 5 hours | £3.10 | £3.50 |
| All day | £5.30 | £4.20 |
| Public holidays, all day | £1.60 | £2.00 |
Source: Notice of Variation, off-street charges, 7 April 2025, East Herts Council.
So a one-hour stay went up by 20p, a two-hour stay by 50p and a three-hour stay by 60p, while the all-day charge came down by £1.10. The council described the 2025 change as moving to a 70p base rate in the smaller towns and “lower all-day parking rates in Sawbridgeworth” (Car parking tariff changes, East Herts Council). The previous rise, in January 2023, put a 20 per cent uplift on Sawbridgeworth tariffs and introduced bank holiday charging.
Two details on the council’s own pages do not match. The 2025 notice lists Bell Street’s chargeable days as Monday to Friday and public holidays at £2.00. The car park page says Monday to Saturday, with Sundays and public holidays at £1.50 all day. The tariff on the machines is the one that applies; we have not been able to reconcile the two from the published documents.
The roadworks
The petition does not say which roadworks it means. We read every temporary traffic order Hertfordshire County Council has published for the district since mid-July on the Public Notice Portal, and none of them closes a Sawbridgeworth street. Utility works under temporary traffic lights do not need a closure order, so they would not appear there. The county’s live map is the place to check, and our roadworks and travel page carries the closures that do have orders.
Also on Wednesday’s agenda
The petition is one of a long list of items at the first full Council meeting since July (agenda, Council, 14 October 2026):
- The housing register residency rule gets its final vote. The Executive recommended it on 6 October. Our report on what it changes: 12-month residency rule planned.
- Sheering Mill Lane. Councillors are asked to recognise the Chief Executive’s emergency action over the August bank holiday. Our report: Council asks Rayner for arrest powers.
- A new Licensing Committee chair. Cllr Simon Marlow is proposed, because Cllr Maura Connolly became an Executive Member on 3 September and Executive Members cannot sit on the committee (report, item 10).
- Taxi and licensing policies, both already through the Executive. Our earlier report: East Herts taxi policy changes.
- The new Local Plan. The Gateway 1 self-assessment, and a recommendation to cut the plan period to ten years, April 2029 to April 2039, under the new national framework. Background: new call for sites opens 15 October.
- How planning applications are decided from 31 October. New national regulations limit which applications a planning committee may decide and cap committees at 13 members; East Herts’ has 12. Council is asked to make the Development Management Committee chair the “Nominated Member” and the Director for Place the “Nominated Officer” who together run the new threshold test (report, item 13).
Members’ questions include two on Water Lane Hall in Bishop’s Stortford. Cllr Aubrey Holt notes the council bought it in 2019 for £975,000 and asks on what legal basis a transfer to a community interest company would rest. Cllr David Jacobs asks when the Executive will take its final decision, after it agreed on 8 September to seek legal advice (Members’ questions, 14 October 2026). Our report on the hall: Water Lane Hall community transfer.
The meeting starts at 7pm in the Council Chamber at Wallfields, Pegs Lane, Hertford, and is webcast.
What it means for you
- If you signed the petition, the response comes on Wednesday evening from the Executive Member, not from a vote. The webcast is on the council’s meetings site.
- If you park in Sawbridgeworth, the first 30 minutes at Bell Street are free with a ticket, and a full day is £4.20, less than it was in 2024. Short stays of one to three hours cost more than they did.
- If you want the charges reviewed, the decision sits with the Executive. The petition scheme page explains how to submit a further petition or ask a public question.
- Parking in Bishop’s Stortford is covered on our parking page, including the car parks where a full day costs least.
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