The hefty fees that councils charge for using on-street parking for anything other than parking, such as social spaces with seating, community gardens or bike parking, have been revealed for the first time.
Climate charity Possible has obtained fees charged by local authorities in England’s top 10 cities and found that local residents who wanted to “suspend” a parking space for community use were paying 115 times more than getting a parking permit. For private cars.
The average weekly cost of parking spaces in ten cities was £158.06, while the average weekly cost of a residential parking permit was just £1.38. Local residents may often wish to suspend parking spaces for all-day events.
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Hirra Khan Adeogun, head of a possible car-free city, said: “We let private cars hijack our public spaces.
“The fact that some cities don’t even charge parking fees shows that local politicians are missing out on an opportunity to break free from car dominance. Most of the time, private cars sit completely idle, taking up valuable public space.
“We need to move to a better system; one that prioritizes people over private cars, giving communities the space to thrive, making them happier, healthier and greener.”
There are no weekly charges for parking permits in Bradford, Leeds and Nottingham, while the weekly charges for parking space suspensions are £70.00, £187.60 and £23.38 respectively. In Liverpool, the weekly cost of a parking permit is just £0.04, while the weekly cost of a parking space is £193.00.
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Six other cities, including London, Birmingham and Manchester, charge more for parking permits, but there is still a considerable difference between these costs and the cost of a parking space suspension. Across the six cities, parking space suspensions cost between 33 and 353 times the cost of a parking permit.
The figures reveal how UK cities are prioritizing the use of public spaces – in particular, strongly encouraging the ownership of a private car that is not used 95% of the time.
possible spokesman told ecologist: “The problem with parking suspensions is that there’s not really a consistent process for how much people pay and how long they can suspend parking.
“Our main purpose for using them is for ‘pop-up parks’, and these events are designed to help the community understand which parking spaces are available in lieu of private car storage.
“We are advocating for councils to install proper procedures to help residents install small permanent parks to permanently reclaim parking spaces and replace them with seating, bike storage and green space.”
May now call on councils to reassess the cost of parking permits to adequately reflect the cost of car ownership borne by the rest of society due to pollution, road hazards and loss of space.
The charity also wants councils to implement an affordable and simple process through which residents can bring their communities together, reduce car dominance and help improve the climate.
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Brendan Montague is the editor ecologist. This article is based on a possible press release.
