HARLOW Council is offering customers more options to pay for parking at its car parks, with new machines being installed this week.

The machines are touchscreen and will accept cash, card and contactless payments. The majority of machines installed will also be solar powered.

There will be some disruption on site at the car parks whilst machines are being installed; customers can however continue to pay for parking via the MiPermit app.

The new machines will be installed across all council-owned car parks a full list of these can be found here. All this is being done with no increase to parking charges at the car parks, keeping the one-hour free period on weekdays and free parking in the evenings, on weekends and on bank holidays.

Councillor Nicky Purse, cabinet portfolio holder for environment and sustainability, said:

“These new parking machines are a great improvement on the old ones and support our sustainability goals. They offer residents and visitors far greater flexibility in how they pay – whether by cash, card, or contactless. This makes our town centre and shopping areas more accessible and user-friendly for everyone. And this is all offered on top of our free one-hour parking on weekdays, free parking for evenings, weekends and bank holidays, and with no increase to parking charges.

“Importantly, we can now monitor and manage the machines remotely, which means we can identify and fix issues much more quickly and efficiently, reducing downtime and improving service.

“These upgrades are part of our wider mission to renew and invest in our neighbourhoods. I’m confident they will be a welcome change for residents and visitors alike, helping to modernise our car parks and improve the overall experience of coming into Harlow.”