Edinburgh Road car park in Ashford opened 2 November: 198 spaces, free after 3pm Monday to Saturday, £6 over four hours. Elwick Place now charges after 3pm.

Ashford’s new Edinburgh Road car park opened on Monday 2 November, earlier than the council had expected. It has 198 spaces, and from now on it is where you park free after 3pm in the town centre.

The free-after-3pm offer has moved there from Elwick Place, the cinema car park, which had carried it since 2019. Ashford Borough Council announced the opening on Monday.

What the new car park offers

The council’s news release and its Edinburgh Road car park page give these details:

  • Address: Edinburgh Road, TN24 8LG
  • Spaces: 198, including 14 disabled bays
  • Electric vehicle charging: 10 bays, which need an account on the free EVDOT app
  • Open: 24 hours a day, every day
  • Charging: 8am to 3pm, Monday to Saturday
  • Free: after 3pm Monday to Saturday, and all day on Sundays and bank holidays
  • Price: £1.30 an hour, or £6.00 for over four hours
  • Payment: RingGo only, location code 26652

The car park is temporary. It sits on the site of the old Park Mall shopping centre and the Edinburgh Road multi-storey, which the council demolished this year under planning permission PA/2025/1749. That permission allows a surface car park for up to five years while the council looks for a partner to redevelop the land.

The council said the car park “was originally expected to open later in the year”. Its own update on 23 October had said only that it was on schedule for November.

The way in on foot

For now the walking route between the car park and the High Street is the approved one via St George’s Square. Town centre businesses petitioned for a shorter path, and Cabinet agreed on 10 September to design one. The council said on 23 October that it would procure that second route “as soon as possible after the Park Mall temporary car park opens”, subject to permissions. It has given no date for it. We covered the options and their costs in our Park Mall car park story.

What changes at Elwick Place

Elwick Place no longer has free parking after 3pm. The council’s Elwick Place car park page now says that from 2 November:

  • a £1 flat rate applies to anything parked between 4pm and 8am
  • the standard stepped tariff applies from 9am to 4pm, an hour longer than before
  • 8am to 9am is free, so early daytime users are not caught by the overnight charge

The same page is not fully consistent. Its summary box still gives the charging period as 9am to 3pm, and one of its answers still dates the overnight charge from 1 November. Check the signs at the barrier before you rely on either.

Cinema-goers keep their free parking. The council says visitors to The Ashford Cinema get four hours free at Elwick Place. That will also apply to Loop, the new leisure venue at Elwick Place, which the council says opens on 27 November.

Which car park is cheaper

For a short trip the two cost about the same. For a long stay, Edinburgh Road is much cheaper.

Stay Edinburgh Road Elwick Place
2 hours £2.60 £2.60
4 hours £5.20 £5.20
Over 4 hours £6.00 £6.50 up to 5 hours
All day £6.00 £13.20 over 5 hours
After 3pm, Monday to Saturday free standard tariff to 4pm, then £1
Sunday free charged

The Edinburgh Road prices are £1.30 an hour, so two hours is £2.60 and four hours £5.20. The Elwick Place prices are from its stepped tariff. Both are from the council’s own car park pages, read on 3 November 2026.

What it means for you

  • Shopping in town after 3pm, park at Edinburgh Road, not Elwick Place. Elwick Place now charges after 3pm.
  • Parking all day on a weekday, Edinburgh Road costs £6.00 against £13.20 at Elwick Place.
  • Going to the cinema or, from 27 November, to Loop, Elwick Place still gives you four hours free.
  • Paying, Edinburgh Road takes RingGo only: there is no machine to feed with cash.
  • Driving an electric car, download the EVDOT app before you arrive.
  • Bringing a large van, the kerbside weight limit is 3,500kg.

Every council car park, with prices, postcodes and free times, is on our parking in Ashford page. Full Council’s October decision to freeze parking charges until 2028 is in our parking charges story.

Sources