‘Clear policy without distinction between holidays’
A motion has been passed in Utrecht that no longer makes it self-evident that free parking is available on public holidays. According to the council factions that submitted the motion, the exception rule did not contribute to inclusiveness.
Until the end of this year, you can park for free in large parts of Utrecht on public holidays, but from 1 January 2023 this will no longer be the case. The exemption from parking tax on public holidays will be lifted. In November 2021, the parties of GroenLinks, D66, Party for the Animals and Student & Starter submitted a motion to put an end to this. In the motion submitted last year and now adopted, the parties indicated that the exception rule does not contribute to ‘inclusiveness and equality’ because official Dutch holidays – including important Christian holidays – and those of other religions would not be treated equally.
The abolition of the exception rule should provide more clarity, since an exception was not made for every public holiday. As of January 1, 2023, public holidays will be completely aligned with regular days as far as parking policy is concerned. Among other things, parking meters and the digital registration of parking rights must be changed. The municipality of Utrecht is going to its residentsappropriately‘ inform about the change in the parking policy, both in November and around the holidays in 2023.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl