Waterhouse Lane costs nothing from 6pm Friday to 8am Monday. Full 2026 tariffs for every Chelmsford council car park, resident permits at £28.60, on-street rates.
The gap between the cheapest and dearest way to park a car in Chelmsford for a working day is about £13. Leave it in High Chelmer from 9am to 6pm and you pay £17.60. Leave it in Waterhouse Lane and you pay £7. Leave it in Waterhouse Lane on a Saturday and you pay nothing at all.
Chelmsford City Council runs 24 car parks and sets its own tariffs, which last changed on Monday 16 February 2026. This page lists what each one costs now, where the genuinely free parking is, and what the permits cost. Every figure was checked on 15 August 2026 against the council’s own car park pages and its statutory charges notice.
The free parking, and the catch
Three council car parks cost nothing:
- Waterhouse Lane, CM1 2RL, 86 spaces. Charged 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday only. Free from 6pm on Friday to 8am on Monday, and free from 6pm to 8am on weeknights.
- Great Baddow Parish, CM2 7DW, 35 spaces. “Free at all times.”
- Writtle Parish, The Green, CM1 3DT, 44 spaces. “Free at all times.”
Waterhouse Lane is the one worth knowing. It is further out than the Meadows and it only has 86 spaces, but it is £7 for a whole weekday against £17.60 for eight hours in High Chelmer, and across a whole weekend it is free. The council’s own page confirms the charging period is 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and that “from 6pm to 8am, there is no charge to park” (Waterhouse Lane car park).
The catch is the opposite one, on-street. Chelmsford’s on-street bays charge Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, and the council states those charges “also apply on public holidays” (on-street parking spaces). A bay that is free on Sunday is not free on Easter Monday or the August bank holiday. On-street rates are 30p for 15 minutes, 60p for 30 minutes, £1.10 for an hour and £1.40 for two. There is no cash option: contactless card or the MiPermit app only.
Short stay in the centre
These four share one tariff. High Chelmer is the biggest car park in the city at 1,012 spaces, and it is pay on foot rather than pay and display.
| Length of stay | Mon to Sat | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1 hour | £2.50 | £2.50 |
| Up to 2 hours | £3.90 | £3.90 |
| Up to 3 hours | £5.20 | £5.20 |
| Up to 4 hours | £6.80 | to midnight, £6.80 |
| Up to 5 hours | £8.80 | |
| Up to 6 hours | £11.00 | |
| Up to 7 hours | £13.20 | |
| Up to 8 hours | £17.60 | |
| Up to midnight | £20.00 | |
| Evening, from 5pm | £2.80 | £2.80 |
That applies at High Chelmer (1,012 spaces, 26 disabled, 10 free motorcycle spaces, open 6am to midnight), Meadows Surface (250 spaces, 2 EV chargers), Parkway (97 spaces) and Riverside (81 surface spaces). Riverside adds a 70p 30 minute rate and charges £1.90 in the evening rather than £2.80, and its 83 undercroft spaces are for Riverside Leisure Centre members only.
Two local costs at High Chelmer that are easy to trip over: a lost ticket is £20, and if you are locked in after midnight the release fee is £50 (High Chelmer car park).
Baddow Road (250 spaces) is cheaper than the four above and runs Monday to Sunday: £2.50 for an hour, £3.60 for two, £5 for three and £8.50 until 5am, with an evening rate from 5pm of £1.70. Its two EV bays are out of use until summer 2026.
Long stay, for a working day
| Car park | Mon to Fri, all day | Evening from 5pm | Sat and Sun |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waterhouse Lane | £7 to 6pm | free | free |
| Rectory Lane East and West | £9 | £1.70 | £4.50 |
| Regina Road | £9 | £1.70 | £7 to midnight |
| Fairfield Road | £11 | £3.30 | £5 |
| Townfield Street | £11 | £2.80 | £5 |
Rectory Lane and Regina Road both went from £8.50 to £9, and the Saturday and Sunday rate at Rectory Lane went from £4 to £4.50, in the February 2026 variation (charges notice). Fairfield Road’s evening rate rose the most in percentage terms, from £2.80 to £3.30. Townfield Street’s did not move.
Rectory Lane and Regina Road also have a 70p 30 minute rate on weekdays, and Regina Road prices weekends by the hour: £3 for one, £3.50 for two, £5 for three, £7 to midnight.
Glebe Road has gone. It was still in the February 2026 tariff notice at £11 a day, and it is no longer on the council’s car parks list. EssexLive reported in May 2026 that the 60 space site had been hoarded off for a development of 12 apartments (EssexLive, 1 May 2026). If you have an old list of Chelmsford car parks, that is the one to strike off.
Parking for the station
Chelmsford station’s own car park is not a council one. It is run by NCP on behalf of Greater Anglia, so it is not covered by the tariffs above and its prices are not in the council’s charges notice. We have not been able to verify its current rates from a primary source, so this page does not quote them.
Beaulieu Park station is different: its car park A is a council car park, and the tariffs are published. It has 290 spaces, 38 disabled spaces that are free all day, 4 EV bays, motorcycle parking and cycle storage.
| Length of stay | Price |
|---|---|
| Up to 1 hour, Mon to Fri | £3.50 |
| Up to 2 hours | £4.50 |
| Up to 3 hours | £5.50 |
| Up to 5am, Mon to Fri | £11.50 |
| Saturday and Sunday, to midnight | £5.00 |
| Evening, 5pm to 5am | £2.50 |
A year’s season ticket there is £2,500, the dearest of any council car park in the district (Beaulieu Station A). For train times and connections, see our Chelmsford trains page.
Blue badge
In council car parks a Blue Badge gets you three hours free, not a whole day. The exception is Beaulieu Station A, where the 38 disabled bays are free all day.
On-street it is more generous: you can park free in an on-street disabled bay, and free all day unless the sign says otherwise, as long as you display a valid badge and a time clock. At the Chelmsford Recycling Centre on Drovers Way, a Blue Badge also exempts you from having to book a slot.
Permits and season tickets
Chelmsford’s on-street resident permits are administered through the South Essex Parking Partnership, whose price list covers six districts. These are the Chelmsford figures only; Maldon, Brentwood and the rest charge different amounts on the same page, which is an easy mistake to make (costs for resident permit scheme).
| Permit | 6 months | 1 year |
|---|---|---|
| Resident, up to 2 per property | £22.00 | £28.60 |
| Motorcycle | £16.50 | £23.10 |
| Visitor permit, 4 hour maximum | £22.00 | £28.60 |
If you are over 65 you get one resident or motorcycle permit free per household. Temporary permits are £12.10 a month, up to four in any 12 months. Visitor tickets come in books of ten: £5.50 for one hour tickets, £16.50 for four hour, £22 for six hour.
For the car parks, the evening and weekend permit is the one that most people miss: £250 a year, or £20.83 a month, valid 5pm to 8am Monday to Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday, across Baddow Road, Coval Lane, Fairfield Road, Meadows Surface, Moulsham Street, Rectory Lane West, Regina Road, Riverside, Waterhouse Lane, Waterloo Lane 1, Waterloo Lane 2 and 3, and West End Business.
Full season tickets, all raised on 16 February 2026:
- £2,265 a year (£188.75 a month): Fairfield Road, High Chelmer, Meadows Surface, Townfield Street, Waterloo Lane 2 and 3
- £1,300 a year (£108.33 a month): Baddow Road, Coval Lane, Meadows Retail, Moulsham Street, Rectory Lane West, Regina Road
- £2,500 a year: Beaulieu Station A
- £1,645 a year: West End Business permit
Market traders pay £4.80 a day at High Chelmer and Waterhouse Lane, up from £4.50.
Also on The Chelmsford Times
- Chelmsford roadworks and travel, for closures and diversions before you set off
- Chelmsford bin collection days
- Chelmsford council tax bands
- Things to do in Chelmsford
Parking queries go to the council on 01245 606710.
Have your say