You can:
You can use your short stay parking permit in most of the car parks we maintain. You cannot use it at the car parks on our excluded list:
You cannot use your short stay permit for:
You do not need to be a Dorset resident to apply for this permit.
Your vehicle must be roadworthy, taxed, insured and have a valid MOT.
Each short stay permit can have two vehicles registered to use it.
Common confusion
You do not need to be a Dorset resident to apply for this permit. Anyone in or outside of the Dorset Council area can hold a short stay permit.
£100 for 12 months.
Park twice a week for 3 hours each for shopping, coffee, or appointments, 52 weeks a year in Fairfield car park, Dorchester.
With a short stay permit at £100 a year, that would cost just over 96p per 3-hour session.
Without a permit, your 3 hours would cost £2.40, or an annual cost of £249.60. Owning a short stay permit if these were your parking habits would save you £149.60 for that year.
Short stay permits can be used the day you apply. Once payment is complete, check your MiPermit account to check your permit is active. Once active, you just need to park up and start a free 3 hour session in your MiPermit account when you arrive.
If you are a new user, register for a MiPermit account:
Register for a MiPermit account
This permit is managed by MiPermit. You will need to sign in to your MiPermit account to buy a permit:
Frequent mistakes to avoid
Parking without starting a 3‑hour MiPermit session. If you don’t start your session, you could be issued a parking ticket (fine, Penalty Charge Notice, PCN).
Applicants often expect a paper permit or dashboard pass. Our short stay permit is virtual. You will not receive anything in the post. We will check your registration on our device and see your permit.
The short stay permit is a virtual one. This means there is nothing to display in your vehicle, we do not send out a paper version of this permit.
To use your permit, you will need to park up and start your free 3‑hour session for that day.
Permits cannot be used with other concessions and do not guarantee a space.
If a car park has its own restrictions (these will be written on the car park charges boards at the car park), those apply above the rules of the permit. For example, each car park has rules about the type of vehicle it allows. If you have a permit for a motorhome, but the car park does not allow motorhomes, you cannot park there.
Frequent mistakes to avoid
Parking without starting a 3‑hour MiPermit session.
Short stay permits do not cover every car park. Check our 'where you can use a short stay permit' page.
This permit is managed by MiPermit.
You will need to sign in to your MiPermit account to manage your permit:
If you are a new user, you will need to register for a MiPermit account.
To change your vehicle, you will need to go to the MiPermit website (you cannot update your vehicle from the mobile app).
You need to go to 'Buy digital permits' then 'Car Park permit vehicle change'.
Update your registration in your MiPermit account before you park your new vehicle. Approval of your new vehicle usually takes around 3 working days.
To update your address details, you will need to go to 'Manage digital permits' and click the relevant option.
If you are having account or app issues, contact MiPermit for support and permit queries.
Vehicle status: your vehicle must remain taxed, insured and with a valid MOT for the permit to remain valid.
To update your payment details:
Common confusion
It usually takes around 3 days for a new vehicle to be approved for use with your short stay permit.
If you park with your new vehicle before it is registered, you may be issued a parking fine.
This permit is managed by MiPermit. Permits will automatically renew if the auto-renewal option has been selected on your account. If this has not been set up, you will need to renew the permit yourself each time it expires.
You will need to sign in to your MiPermit account to renew your permit:
If you have added an email address to your MiPermit account, we will email you to let you know that your permit is expiring. We will send the email approximately 1 month before your permit expires.
You need to contact us in writing to cancel a permit or request a refund. You can do this by emailing: [email protected]. You will need to confirm the date you wish to cancel it by.
We can only provide refunds for whole months left on your permit. For example, if you have used 3.5 months of an annual permit, your refund would be an 8 month refund. A monthly permit cannot be refunded.
We may withdraw a permit that is misused or if you do not meet the eligibility rules. See our terms and conditions for more information.
