National Park Authority consultation opens on changes to car park charging
This is an archived press release
Wednesday 19 October 2022
A consultation has opened this week on proposed changes to car parks owned and operated by the Peak District National Park Authority.
The changes proposed – which would be implemented via Byelaws and Parking Orders – include increasing the number of pay and display locations within the Authority’s network of 45 current car parks, and changes to tariffs at all of their Pay & Display locations.
Byelaws and Parking Orders for the Authority’s sites were last reviewed in 2016, with changes then coming into effect in 2018. A similar approach is expected with the current proposals.
Options put forward include simplifying ticket type selection – for example purchasing a motorcycle ticket in error instead of a car – and increasing parking periods for coaches and horseboxes.
Price ranges for cars would change to £1.75 for a single hour only (up 25p), up to £5.50 for a full day (a 75p increase). Blue Badge holders will continue to park for free.
An annual parking permit, applied across all 45 Authority-owned locations, will increase in stages gradually to a final cost of £66 by 2024 – the first increase for almost a decade, when it was originally set at £40 in 2013.
The Authority confirmed that price analysis and calculations were undertaken prior to recent sharp inflation rises, and are based on averages across the preceding years since the last changes to Byelaws and Parking Orders.
A Peak District National Park Authority spokesperson said: “The proposed changes, which in some cases such as the annual permit will be introduced incrementally, continue to represent very good value in line with other local parking providers and by comparison to National Parks throughout the country.
“Under the proposals, a regular visitor to any of our Pay and Display locations would still pay less than £1.30 a week to park under an annual permit at its final cost of £66 in three year’s time.
“As the fee analysis was undertaken in 2021, it has protected car park users and visitors from potential sharper increases related to current inflation, despite the Authority’s own costs continuing to go up in line with these external factors.
“Whilst the number of Pay & Display sites may increase, this reflects the maintenance and other operating costs associated with the whole of our car park, all-user trails and public toilets network - given that almost all of these additional facilities are available to visitors at no charge.”
Around a third of the Authority’s car parks will remain free of charge to all users.
The consultation remains open for a month. Comments can be submitted for Derbyshire-based sites to paul.jameson@derbyshire.gov.uk and for all other additional locations, to andrea.mccaskie@peakdistrict.gov.uk.