Lowering some parking charges in York following a backlash against recent hikes could cost around £115,000, according to council estimates.
City of York Council figures showed stays across its car parks in the weeks following the hikes were down by 13 per cent year-on-year, with income up 24 per cent to £795,000.
Council transport lead Cllr Kate Ravilious said parking income was being spent on helping people get around and pledged to continue listening as charges are reviewed.
But opposition Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Cllr Stephen Fenton said Labour’s proposed changes amounted to another round of ad-hoc and inconsistent tweaks that would not benefit residents and businesses.
It comes as the proposals to change the rates are set to go before the council’s executive on Tuesday (3 June).
Hikes in April as part of the council’s budget for 2025-6 saw charges rise to £4.85-an-hour for the first two and £5.30-an-hour on Fridays, Saturdays and during events.
If the revised charges are approved it would see on-street parking outside the inner ring road dropped to £3-an-hour.
Charges at Bishopthorpe Road car park, which rose by more than 500 per cent from 80p-an-hour, would be set at £3-an-hour in line with Heworth’s East Parade.
Fees for on-street parking in Micklegate and Priory Street would be temporarily lowered to £3-an-hour with staggered increases planned over time and Sunday morning charges also waived pending new policies.
Rates at city centre car parks would remain unchanged in line with council efforts to tackle congestion and fill a forecasted budget black hole of up to £10m-a-year.
A further review into and consultation on parking charges would also take place.
Talks with traders
The proposals were drawn up following talks with affected residents and traders in areas such as Micklegate and Bishopthorpe Road which saw some of the sharpest increases in charges.
Trends in council data included in a report on the plans stated that footfall in Parliament Street was 724,848 last month, an increase of 28.7 per cent compared to April 2024.
City centre retail sales were around £35.5m in April, up by 3.7 per cent year-on-year.
Footfall data for Bishopthorpe Road and Micklegate are not available.
But retail sales figures covering January to April showed customer numbers were up year-on-year by one per cent in Bishopthorpe Road and Micklegate.
Transactions were up by two per cent in Bishopthorpe Road but down by 11 per cent in Micklegate.
Sales in Bishopthorpe Road were up by nine per cent while those in Micklegate rose by two per cent year-on-year.
The council’s report stated it was too early to make predictions based on the figures.
Figures showed city-wide parking transactions numbered around 91,000 in the first four weeks since the hikes came into force, down from about 104,000 year-on-year.
But income from parking fees rose from about £641,000 to £795,000.
Transactions at Bishopthorpe Road car park were down by 1,907 year-on-year or 37 per cent.
On-street parking transactions fell by 44 per cent, with 5,856 fewer than last year.
In Heworth’s East Parade, transactions fell by 138 or 36 per cent compared to 2024.
Clash over strategy
The report stated that data showed parking had fallen further in areas where fees were lower before April’s hikes.
Labour’s Cllr Ravilious said investing into £10m into highway maintanence and £50m into public transport improvements including the Station Gateway project aimed to help people get around the city.
But she added that congestion also had to be tackled to ensure those efforts are successful which parking fees could help with.
The transport executive member said: “One of the great strengths of the city is the vibrant local economies that residents enjoy in their local areas.
“We continue to listen and as a result we are looking at reviewing some of the parking charges in line with our Transport Strategy and using a data led and evidence based approach.”
But Lib Dem transport spokesperson Cllr Fenton said Labour were taking the wrong approach.
He said: “The Transport Strategy’s implementation plan includes a commitment to develop a consistent and equitable strategy for parking across the city.
“This work needs to be done first, to inform a charging strategy, not the other way round.”
Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Cllr Ashley Mason said the roughly £115,000 cost compared to the £340,000 his group pledged to soften the blow of hikes in their alternative budget plans.
Cllr Mason said: “Labour claims to have listened but they seem unwilling to make meaningful changes which address the real-world impact that some of these changes are having on small businesses.
“If Labour genuinely wants to encourage sustainable travel, we need a coherent city-wide plan and not an administration that makes it up as it goes along, with no regard for fairness or consistency.”