Parking on 25 Brighton and Hove streets becomes electric car charging bays on 30 November. From 8am to 8pm, only a car that is charging may use them.
Parking spaces on 25 streets across Brighton and Hove become electric vehicle charging bays on Monday 30 November. Between 8am and 8pm, a car may only park in one if it is plugged in and actively charging.
The council made the two orders on 28 October and published the final notice on 30 October (final notice). The orders are TRO-14a-2026, for streets inside the controlled parking zones, and TRO-14b-2026, for four streets outside them.
The council’s statement of reasons says it is installing new rapid chargepoints. It is making the bays “mandatory EV charging bays” so they are “not blocked by other vehicles” (statement of reasons).
Which streets get the bays
The bays come in three types. The notice gives the street and the parking zone for each.
| Rule from 8am to 8pm | Streets (zone) |
|---|---|
| Charging only, maximum one hour, no return within two hours. Shared permit or paid parking bays | Freshfield Road, Madeira Place and Morley Street (C), Dover Road (F), Bristol Place (H), Clermont Road (K), Rochester Gardens (M), Medina Terrace (N), Sackville Road (R), Islingword Road (V), Western Street (Z) |
| Charging only, maximum two hours, no return within two hours. Permit holders only | Balfour Road (F), Selborne Place (O), Highcroft Villas (Q), Clifton Road (Y) |
| Charging only, maximum two hours, no return within two hours | Portland Avenue (L), Tongdean Avenue (P), Ryde Road (S), New Church Road (W), Norway Street (X), Harrington Road (10) |
| Charging only, maximum two hours, no return within two hours. Outside the parking zones | Beatty Avenue, Boundary Road (Hove), Moulsecoomb Way, Woodland Drive |
Two streets in the original July plan are not in the final order. Longridge Avenue has been withdrawn. Withdean Court Avenue “will be considered at a later stage”, the notice says.
What the rules mean
The order replaces the city’s old list of charging bay rules with one set of conditions. A car may wait in a charging bay only if:
- it is connected to the charging equipment
- it is actively charging for the whole of its stay
- it has any permit or payment the bay requires
- it does not stay longer than the maximum
- it does not come back within the no-return period
“Actively charging” is newly defined in the order. It means the car is connected and “drawing power from the charging equipment” (order TRO-14a-2026). So a fully charged car left plugged in would no longer meet the rule.
The notice does not say how many bays each street gets, or which company will run the chargers. The order’s schedule sets out each bay’s position in metres from the nearest junction.
What it means for you
- If you live on one of these streets and do not drive an electric car, a stretch of kerb you can park on now will be closed to you between 8am and 8pm from 30 November. Look for the new signs and bay markings.
- If you drive an electric car, these are short-stay rapid charging bays, not overnight parking. The limits are one or two hours, and you cannot return for two hours.
- Permit and payment rules still apply where a bay is in a controlled parking zone. Charging does not replace a permit or a parking payment.
- The consultation is over. The council advertised the plan in July, and the order is now made.
This is separate from last month’s handover of more than 500 existing chargepoints from Blink to Believ and Char.gy. We covered that switch and the new prices here: Blink chargers switch operator. The parking in Brighton page explains the zones.
The roadworks and parking orders for the coming weeks are on our Brighton roadworks page.
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