Gedling Borough Council’s proposal to introduce a £2 parking charge at Gedling Country Park has got our readers talking.
Gedling Borough Council Cabinet members will decide on whether to approve plans to introduce parking charges at Gedling Country Park and roll out cashless payment options across the borough’s car parks at their Cabinet meeting on January 9.
Residents took to our social media channels to have their say and also emailed us their opinions about the charge.
Chris Rodgers posted: “Parking is two hours free across the Borough so we would stop visiting.”
Lorraine Goodwin said she was concerned about the impact the charge would have on nearby residents and road safety.
She wrote: “People would start parking on Spring Lane to avoid the parking fee, which at busy times could be dangerous.”
Anita Frost commented: “It would stop me using the park. I think £1 for two hours and £2 all day is fair. I only go for a coffee sometimes and putting another £2 on that is not viable.”
But not all readers were against the proposals.
Paul Dennis said: “Having seen some of the big and expensive cars that regularly park there, I think £2 all day is quite reasonable.”
Steve Todd emailed us to say: “I think people around here think there is some big magic money tree in a garden at the back of the council’s HQ. They want everything for free but moan about the state of the car park, despite contributing nothing.
Sam Holt contacted us to say she agreed with the council’s proposals.
“What parking is free anywhere else? Go to Bradgate Park or Wollaton Park and you are expected to pay. It’s the norm. We’ve been lucky the council haven’t charged us over the ten years but now they are everyone is moaning. Sorry but nothing is free in this world.”
Have an opinion on the proposed charge? Have your say in the comments section below.
Please ensure the payment process is easy to use! Most others systems are useless
I think an FoI request to see what these parking charges are being spent on is a good idea. For what the councils make on parking you seem to see very very little going back into the carparks or local area.
Comparisons with Bradgate or Wollaton Park are massively misplaced. Let’s be real here, Gedling Country Park is a landscaped coal tip with a cafe and playground, not a massive deer park with a Tudor mansion in it for example. Yes it has good views and is a decent walk but that is it. Parking at other relatively small parks and council owned leisure facilities in the region is free. Council run carparks are free for 2 hours. People who pop in for a coffee or a bite to eat are not going to if it is £2 or more more expensive to do so. Young families will simply find somewhere else to go. Our council tax went to fund a significant part of the cost of redeveloping this land in the first place and I presume the council collects rent from the solar farm that takes up a significant portion of the site.
Places need to be maintained and the “landscaping of the tip” costs money. It’s not looked after by the park fairy.
I can only repeat what others have already said about the very obvious shortcomings of this plan. Introducing these charges will just see people parking elsewhere (get ready residents) or going elsewhere altogether. I certainly won’t be spending £2 for a 45 minute daily dog walk. Many years ago the plan to introduce car park charges in Arnold was dropped in favour of 2 hours free with payment after that, this is clearly the solution here too. All day free parking could be offered to any of us that do voluntary work to maintain the park, if that’s what the revenue raising is really all about.
A small all day car parking charge actually seems very reasonable to me, on the basis it goes towards this park and it’s facilities. People who don’t like it can drive somewhere else with no car park, no cafe, no toilets, no dog bins, no water fountain, no playground, and other facilities that all require maintenance.
I will not go to Gedling Country Park anymore once the charges are bought in as I go ‘everyday’ to take my dog so this will work out very expensive, if I can find somewhere else to park I will buy saying that the council will then pick up on it & bring In yellow lines & permits. I thought parks etc came within our council tax payments?!?! Clearly not, it’s very disappointing that it’s all about money!
2 choices really, if they do decide to charge then you go or you don’t go, it’s a fairly basic Country park anyway, it won’t bother me one iota