North Yorkshire Council had previously proposed to introduce Sunday and evening car parking charges, across the county.
Local Reform UK group critique of parking charge increase proposals
Council plans to introduce Sunday and Evening parking charges
North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby, said:
Following the announcement of proposed changes to re‑balance parking charges across the county’s car parks, we have listened carefully to the issues and concerns raised by local elected members, particularly regarding the potential impact on communities in different parts of North Yorkshire.
While we remain committed to developing a fair and consistent approach to parking following the launch of North Yorkshire Council, the feedback we have received clearly shows that further discussion is needed.
As a result, the proposed re‑balancing of parking charges will be paused, as well as plans to introduce evening and weekend charges.
Instead, a 10 per cent increase to existing charges will be proposed to help to support the parking service and protect our key frontline services which the fees raised help to fund. The charges will also fund investment in car parks, such as new parking machines and car park lighting improvements.
We will now work closely with councillors and stakeholders to better understand local circumstances and ensure that any future proposals are developed as part of reviews of specific areas.
We recognise that this decision will have an impact on the council’s budget in the next financial year, reducing the level of income originally anticipated by £1.7m, but it’s important to allow enough time to apply the parking principles properly across a large and varied network.
Further work will be carried out to develop updated recommendations, which will then feed into the council’s financial plan.
