Some Dartmoor parking charges to double

Rise is to help pay for maintenance cost.

Charges will rise to £2 for up to three hours and £3 for the full day, rather than the existing £1 and £2 tariffs, while at the Shipley Bridge car park, car parking charges of £2 for up to two hours and £4 for all day parking will be introduced, as part of the new sub lease issues to South West Lakes Limited for the management and maintenance of Shipley Bridge car park and toilets.

Head of Business Support, Donna Healy, told the meeting that the money would be used to maintain and improve the car parks and the surrounding infrastructure. She said: “Parking charges are an emotive subject but we need to face reality and this will just cover the cost of the service.

“Car parking charges have not changed since 2013 and are currently the only fees that generate a significant revenue.

“The income is used to maintain the infrastructure that provides accessibility for the public. The proposed increase in charges for 2020/21 should generate enough income to sustain the current operational, maintenance and repair costs of circa £90,000 a year.”

Dr Kevin Bishop, the chief executive of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, added: “The money raised by car parking charges are spent on car park maintenance and anything left over on supporting infrastructure. This is not about raising money to pay for staff costs or anything like that. There is a direct relationship between the car parking charges what we spend it on.”

Members of the Authority decided in March 2019 not to increase car parking charges for the 2019/20 financial year, but had asked Officers to look into the feasibility of introducing an annual pass or season ticket.

Friday’s meeting heard though the take-up of an annual pass or season ticket would not be significant and costs would outweigh any benefits, and a result, increasing tariffs has been revisited, with contactless payment card readers are also set to be installed into all parking machines.

The new tariffs will take effect from April 1, 2020.

James McInnes added: “People don’t carry cash like they used to and so we need card readers. £2 for half day? For goodness sake, it’s pretty modest. It is always an emotive subject but we have to face the reality and at least cover the cost of maintenance and to support the areas around the car parks.”

Philip Sanders added: “I totally support it. We are barely covering the actual cost of maintaining the car parks in a safe and useable condition. We don’t want car parks full of potholes and puddles, with people falling over and breaking ankles or kids falling into puddles. If people want safe and adequate parking, we need to cover the costs.”

On the introduction of charges at Shipley Bridge, Director of Conservation and Communities, Alison Kohler, said that the closure of the toilets was not desirable and that if the South West Lakes Trust were taking on the management of the toilets, then the National Park needed to accept parking charges to raise income to fund management and maintenance of the toilets and car park.

Peter Smerdon added: “I am pleased to see they have reached an agreement on this as we have been adamant we didn’t want to see the toilets close.”

The changes to the fees and charges, including the car parking charge increase, and the introduction of charges at Shipley Bridge, were both unanimously agreed.