Free weekday parking restored at Billericay's Lake Meadows

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 15 Oct, 10:02 · Archive

Lake Meadows car park in Billericay now offers free weekday parking, with a small charge only between 2pm and 3pm.

Free weekday parking has returned to Lake Meadows car park in Billericay following resident complaints about charges introduced in 2025. Basildon Council had announced parking fee changes across multiple Billericay car parks, including Billericay High Street and Radford Crescent, with costs ranging from £1.10 for one hour to £3.50 for four hours. Residents objected that the charges provided 'no incentive' to visit local areas and would damage high streets.

In April, the council restored weekend free parking at its car parks across Billericay, Basildon and Wickford. Now Lake Meadows has free weekday parking as well, with only a small charge between 2pm and 3pm, Monday to Friday, designed to prevent commuter parking while keeping spaces available for park visitors.

Council leader Andy Barnes said the council had 'listened carefully to feedback about parking at Lake Meadows' and that the new arrangements would be 'straightforward, affordable and fair'. The charge between 2pm and 3pm has been proposed at 50p. Payment machines will be available from 1.45pm, and the council plans to remove MiPermit as a payment option at the site.

How it is being reported

• Free parking proposed all week at popular south Essex car parkParking could soon be free almost all week under new proposals for Lake Meadows car park in BillericayEcho (Basildon) · 15 Oct, 09:15
• Free weekday parking returns to popular Billericay park after backlashResidents can now park for free on any dayEssexLive · 14 Oct, 13:00

In this story: Billericay · Lake Meadows · Basildon Council · Andy Barnes

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