Stourbridge Road closed on 24 September, taking 71 spaces. The seven council car parks left, their prices, and the four that take season tickets.
Bromsgrove’s Stourbridge Road car park closes permanently today. The council announced the date on 18 September, saying the car park “will close permanently from September 24 as plans progress for the site’s redevelopment”.
It takes 71 spaces, five of them accessible, out of the town centre.
Two things the council’s announcement leaves out are worth knowing before your next trip in. Season tickets will only be valid at four car parks from now on. And the redevelopment the closure is being made for still has no planning permission.
Where to park instead, and what each one costs
The council’s own car parks page lists seven other pay and display car parks in Bromsgrove town centre, plus a permit-only staff car park at Parkside and free three-hour parking at Aston Fields.
Six of the seven charge the same: £1 for an hour, £2 for two, £3 for three and £6 for up to ten. The first 30 minutes is free everywhere, but you still have to take a ticket from the machine.
| Car park | Spaces (accessible) | Max stay | 1 hour | All day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Road South | 292 (20) | All day | £1.00 | £11.00 for 10 hours |
| North Bromsgrove | 185 (10) | All day | £1.00 | £6.00 for 10 hours |
| School Drive | 128 (10) | All day | £1.00 | £6.00 for 10 hours |
| Parkside | 94 (6) | All day | £1.00 | £6.00 for 10 hours |
| St John Street | 82 (4) | 3 hours | £1.30 | No all-day rate |
| Windsor Street | 65 (6) | 3 hours | £1.30 | No all-day rate |
| New Road | 58 (4) | All day | £1.00 | £6.00 for 10 hours |
Two of those are not like-for-like replacements.
- Recreation Road South is the biggest car park in the town by a distance, but it is also the dearest for a long stay. Ten hours there costs £11.00, against £6.00 at Stourbridge Road.
- St John Street and Windsor Street are three-hour car parks with a higher hourly rate, £1.30 for the first hour rather than £1.00. Neither is any use to a commuter.
So a driver who used Stourbridge Road all day has four equivalents left at the same price: North Bromsgrove, School Drive, Parkside and New Road.
Season ticket holders lose one of five
This is the detail missing from the council’s news post, and it is on the council’s own parking order page instead.
Season tickets cost £320 a year or £80 a quarter. From the new order, the council says, “the four remaining car parks for which season tickets will be valid will be”:
- School Drive
- Parkside
- North Bromsgrove
- New Road
Stourbridge Road was the fifth. Aston Fields has its own separate season ticket, also £320 a year.
The council’s two pages give two different dates
The council’s news post says the car park closes from 24 September. The council’s parking order page says the Bromsgrove District Council (Off-Street Parking Places) Order 2026 “will come into effect on 25th September 2026”, and that Stourbridge Road “will no longer be available for use as a car park from 25th September 2026”.
The statement of reasons published with the notice on 14 August gave the same 25 September date, and that is the date we reported in August.
The two are a day apart. The news post is the later of the two and names a Thursday, so treat today as the last day, but the order page had not been changed when we read it this morning. Every document linked from it is still labelled a draft version.
The council’s list of its own car parks had not been changed either. At the time of writing it still shows Stourbridge Road, 71 spaces, £6 for ten hours, as an open car park.
The redevelopment still has no permission
The council says the closure is because “the land currently occupied by the car park is being sold by the council for re-development”, and Cllr Karen May, leader of the council and portfolio holder for economic development, called it “the beginning of a major investment in this part of the town centre, that will create jobs, attract footfall and support the local economy”.
The only application to redevelop the site is 17/01468/FUL, a freestanding restaurant with a drive-thru, car parking and landscaping. The planning register records it as received on 20 December 2017. Its status this morning still reads “Awaiting decision”.
The planning committee deferred it in April 2026 for better traffic data. The most recent document added to the file is a legal agreement dated 29 July 2026; nothing has been added since.
So the car park shuts today, and the scheme it is making way for has been undecided for eight years and nine months.
What it means for you
- If you park all day, move to North Bromsgrove, School Drive, Parkside or New Road. All four are £6 for ten hours, the same as Stourbridge Road, and all four take season tickets.
- Avoid Recreation Road South for a long stay unless you need the space. It is £11 for ten hours, £5 more than the alternatives, though it is by far the largest.
- If you hold a season ticket, it is now valid at four car parks, not five. Check the council’s parking order page rather than its news post.
- The first 30 minutes is still free in every council car park, but you have to take a ticket from the machine to get it.
- Signage is being installed to direct drivers to nearby car parks, the council says.
- If you want to comment on the drive-thru itself, that is a separate process. Application 17/01468/FUL is still open on the planning register.
Related
- Parking in Bromsgrove: every council car park, the charges and the 30 minutes free rule.
- Stourbridge Road car park closes on 25 September: our August report on the parking order, the objection deadline and the 2014 land sale.
- Bromsgrove planning news: what is in front of the council now.
- Bromsgrove roadworks and travel: what is shut this week.
Sources
- Bromsgrove District Council, Closure Date Set for Car Park, 18 September 2026, for the 24 September closure, the six car parks in walking distance claim, the signage promise and the quotes from Cllr Karen May.
- Bromsgrove District Council, Off Street Parking Order 2026, read 24 September 2026, for the 25 September effective date, the removal of Stourbridge Road from the order, the four car parks where season tickets remain valid, the 14 August newspaper advert and the draft status of the documents.
- Bromsgrove District Council, Our car parks, read 24 September 2026, for every space count, charge, maximum stay and the first 30 minutes free rule, and for Stourbridge Road still being listed.
- Bromsgrove District Council, season tickets for selected car parks, read 24 September 2026, for the £320 annual and £80 quarterly prices.
- Planning register, application 17/01468/FUL, read 24 September 2026, for the 20 December 2017 receipt date, the proposal wording, the “Awaiting decision” status and the 29 July 2026 legal agreement as the most recent document on the file.
Every figure here is taken from Bromsgrove District Council’s own published pages and planning register, read on 24 September 2026. Charges and space counts change; check the council’s page before you travel.
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