Birmingham City Council has plans to introduce new parking charges at Sutton Park, Lickey Hills Country Park and Sheldon Country Park
Sutton Park in the autumn sunshine(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live)
Birmingham City Council’s controversial plans to introduce parking charges at three beauty spots have taken an important step forward.
The proposals were part of a painful and alarming raft of budget cuts and ‘savings’ which were passed through by the council after it became overwhelmed by financial turmoil.
They mean parking charges could soon be introduced at Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield, Lickey Hills Country Park, on the Worcestershire border, and Sheldon Country Park, close to Birmingham Airport.
READ MORE: Birmingham City Council issues update on major proposal for beloved park attraction
A consultation was held recently on the plans which showed a “significant proportion” were not in favour of the proposed parking charges, as a recently-published council report reveals.
Despite this, the Labour-run council is planning to proceed with the proposals – albeit, with slightly revised charges.
Councillor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment, said the three beauty spots were “some of our most cherished destination parks” at a meeting today, May 13.
He went on to describe the proposed parking charges as “modest”.
“This project is about our ability to invest in our parks so that they are fit for the future,” the Labour councillor said.
Majid Mahmood, Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for environment(Image: Alexander Brock)
“We’ve listened carefully to the community – while the original modelling was based on Cannon Hill Park’s rates, we’ve responded to feedback by significantly reducing proposed charges at Lickey Hills and Sutton Park by up to 69 per cent.
“The new rate is designed to be fair, accessible and considerate of local businesses and residents.”
He added that there would be a grace period of 30 minutes and free parking permits for park volunteers.
But opposition councillors called for the Labour administration to rethink its plans, with Robert Alden highlighting how the proposals were for 365 days a year and therefore “not even allowing free parking on Christmas Day”.
“Some might say that makes a real Scrooge mentality at the council,” the leader of the Conservatives at the council said.
Councillor Robert Alden, leader of the Conservatives at Birmingham City Council(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
He continued: “There’s recognition in the report that [Sutton Park and Lickey Hills] are located in wealthier neighbourhoods.
“Of course, the people who will actually drive to those parks are not the people who live right next door to them.
“So in the case of Sutton Park, we’re talking about people from Kingstanding, Oscott, Erdington, Stockland Green, Falcon Lodge.
“It is in fact them being hit with the charge, not the wealthiest people in the city.”
Referring to the results of a consultation, he added: “The public have been very clear they don’t agree with this and the cabinet should drop this policy.”
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Councillor Ewan Mackey, deputy leader of the opposition, said: “If you’re going to start putting barriers in the way of people being able to exercise, this is actually not going to be beneficial for those people and detrimental for what you’re looking to achieve.
“The most sensible thing at this moment in time is to withdraw this option and allow people to have unfettered access to the parks that were basically given to them years ago.”
Focusing on Sheldon Country Park, Roger Harmer, leader of the Liberal Democrat group said: “It doesn’t take much drop-off of income that you’re actually not making any money on this at all.
“The others are much more robust in financial terms so I will ask that Sheldon is looked at again.”
Responding to such concerns, cabinet member Coun Mahmood stressed the council was not removing access to the parks.
A moment of contemplation at the Lickey Hills (Image: Graham Young, Birmingham Mail)
“But we do have to try to bring in revenue to support the maintenance of the parks,” he said.
“I agree that parks are one of our greatest assets in the city,” he went on to say. “The pricing has been reduced significantly than [current charges] at Cannon Hill Park.”
He continued that a third of the city does not drive and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker’s plans to bring the region’s buses back under public control could help further connect communities and strategic parks.
He added: “I asked officers to ensure [the risk register] is as comprehensive as it can be and it is.”
‘Controversial and unpopular’
The council report stated that for Lickey Hills Country Park, 919 respondents of the consultation (78.4 per cent) felt access to the park should remain free.
For Sheldon Country Park, that figure was 120 respondents (65.9 per cent) while for Sutton Park it was 2,741 respondents (68.2 per cent).
Acknowledging the opposition to the proposed charges, the council report continued: “The introduction of parking charges is often controversial and unpopular as users are asked to pay for something that has previously been free.
“However, the projected income from parking charges still falls short of the cost of maintaining the three parks in question.
“Therefore it is deemed reasonable to ask park users to contribute financially to the upkeep and maintenance of these parks.
Sheldon Country Park(Image: Birmingham Mail/Iain Findlay)
“Despite the introduction of parking charges, there will still be a requirement for financial support from the council’s general fund to maintain and manage these parks.”
It went on to say that charges across “destination sites” throughout the UK has become common practice.
The report said: “In the vast majority of cases, parking charges for these sites have been in place for several years.
“Introducing charges on Birmingham ’s sites will be in line with national best practice to offset the cost of maintaining these destination sites.”
It added that there was more support for revised parking charges which were lower than the consulted ones.
READ MORE: Charging proposal for Birmingham park set to proceed despite 78 per cent opposition
“This support for reduced parking charges was echoed by the feedback from park stakeholders who argued if the introduced parking charges are lower (than the consulted charges) it will minimise the negative impact on the trade of businesses within the parks,” it said.
“Reduced charges are more popular amongst consultees and whilst that would imply an income deficit, we expect the visitor numbers to increase (with less displacement parking) at such levels as to mitigate the impact.”
Cabinet ultimately agreed to delegate to the relevant cabinet member the decision to proceed with the Sheldon Country Park and Sutton Park charging schemes and the decision to introduce a scheme for charging and enforcement at the Lickey Hills site “utilising private parking arrangements”.
Both the original and revised proposed charges for each of the parks can be found below:
Sutton Park:
Original proposals:
- £2.20 for up to 2 hours, £3.30 for 2 to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
- Cost of annual parking permit price to be determined
- Chargeable hours of 9am to 6pm, 365 days a year
Revised proposals:
- £1 per hour up to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
- £52 per annum
- No change to chargeable hours (9am to 6pm, 365 days a year); a 30 minute ‘grace’ period is proposed in addition
Lickey Hills Country Park:
Original proposals:
- £2.20 for up to 2 hours, £3.30 for 2 to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
- Cost of annual parking permit price to be determined
- Chargeable hours of 9am to 6pm, 365 days a year
Revised proposals:
- £1 per hour up to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
- £52 per annum
- No change to chargeable hours (9am to 6pm, 365 days a year); a 30 minute ‘grace’ period is proposed in addition
Sheldon Country Park:
Original proposals:
- £2.20 for up to 2 hours, £3.30 for 2 to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
- Cost of annual parking permit price to be determined
- Chargeable hours of 9am to 6pm, 365 days a year
Revised proposals:
- £0.75 per hour up to 3 hours, £3.50 all day
- £52 per annum
- No change to chargeable hours (9am to 6pm, 365 days a year); a 30 minute ‘grace’ period is proposed in addition
Providing insight on the city council’s financial crisis, external auditors recently highlighted several issues including the equal pay debacle, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT system.
Labour politicians have also pointed to the impact of funding cuts over the past decade or so.