Leeds City Council intends to bring in car parking charges at Leeds Urban Bike Park (LUBP) on Ring Road Beeston Park in Middleton and is conducting a formal public consultation.
The local authority is facing unprecedented pressure on its finances and attempted to bring in the charges two years ago, but decided to withdraw the plan following negative feedback.
The council plans to charge vehicles £1 for up to two hours; £2.50 for up to four hours and £4 for up to twelve hours. Season tickets will be available at £10 per month or £80 for a year. Disabled drivers displaying Blue Badges will not be charged.
The Friends of Middleton Park (FoMP) have responded to the consultation with Chair Alan Shaw saying:
“I can understand the need to ensure the council has sufficient funds to meet its statutory and non-statutory requirements, but in this case, I think that charging for parking will cause more hardship than the council realises – and will cause the council additional headaches further down the line.”
FoMP notes that the charges will impact on LUBP’s business which has already had to struggle to get established and get through Covid. It will also impact other users including the Experience Community helps disabled people access the outdoors and Middleton Woods parkrun.
FoMP are also concerned about the impact on the car park near Middleton Park Visitor Centre, saying:
“… but with there now being a two-tier parking infrastructure for the park, I would suggest that it will become even fuller and congested. On busy sunny days cars are parked all over the place in that area – including on verges, double parked, up the drive to the main gates (on the double yellow lines). This can only get worse if parking charges are introduced at the LUBP car park.”
Councillor Wayne Dixon (SDP, Middleton Park) commenting on behalf of his ward colleagues said:
“We think these parking charges will cause more problems than they will solve. The charges on the bike park will surely mean people will simply park elsewhere to avoid paying. Our streets are highly likely to be impacted, not to mention our tiny car park near the visitor centre which thankfully has been reprieved from these pointless charges.
“We feel for Jeremy and the team at the Urban Bike Park who have worked hard to build the bike park up only to be hit by this.
“Let’s not forget that getting people active is massively important, currently obesity costs the UK economy around £58 billion. The cost of the installation of the infrastructure and administration of the scheme will make this yet another short-sighted policy from our Labour administration that solves nothing.”
Comments about the planned charges can be posted to Climate, Energy and Green Spaces, Leeds City Council, Farnley Hall, Hall Lane, Leeds, LS12 5HA; or emailed to middleton.parking@leeds.gov.uk. The closing date for comments is Thursday 10 October 2024.
Photo: Google
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It is absolutely ridiculous to charge for car parking at Leeds urban bike park when people are there to use the bike park or participate in the parkrun.
As a result of this charge, users of the bike park may resort to parking through Middleton Park’s main gates and riding through to the bike park. This poses a significant danger to walkers in the park, as some cyclists already ride at excessive speeds. This new policy is likely to increase the risk of accidents and hazards for everyone.
Middleton Park is the only pleasant outdoor space in the area, and by implementing this charge, you are essentially pricing out locals from enjoying it during a time of high cost of living pressures.
I am extremely disappointed and frustrated by this decision.
What about the parking at Middleton park – they are going to be under the same fee structure. All it’s actually going to do is reduced the amount of visitors.
We know everyone needs more and more money
But in theory this is to raise funds and also encourage people to use public transport. But if a family with two kids gets the bus that’s a three month parking fee. So either way they won’t visit.
What about people who visit multiple parks – will they have to get a permit for each of them
And what about the people for whom the park is a lifeline – who check in on each other, where it’s their main point of contact to the outside world