By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Parking fees will be introduced at Gedling Country Park to help pay for future maintenance.
Gedling Borough Council approved a £2 parking charge at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday (January 9), alongside a budget of £12,000 to pay for two pay-and-display machines.
The new fees will come into force in the spring. The attraction’s car park is currently free to use, but people are asked to make a donation at collection points on the site.
Cllr John Clarke (Lab), the leader of the council, said donations had “tapered off” and money would be needed for future maintenance.
“It is in a way a victim of its own success,” he said.
“We have got hundreds of thousands of people going there and if you walk on that car park backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, it gets worn out, and has to be replaced.
“Sooner or later on its tenth anniversary next year we will need to do significant maintenance on that site, and now we have found a way to fund it.”
A consultation, which launched on October 3 last year, received 75 written responses – 68 raised concerns or objected to the plans.
Concerns included the fees preventing regular users or dog walkers from using the country park, with the report acknowledging those who visited twice a day could be faced with paying £730 a year for parking.
Nearby residents, including those living in Spring Lane, said they feared the fees would create parking problems on residential roads.
The council said parking fees would be enforced between 8am and 6pm, while a permit system for regular users would be created with a set price.
Friends of Gedling Country Park volunteers will continue to get free parking.
Cllr Jenny Hollingsworth (Lab), the deputy leader of the council, added: “I can absolutely understand why people don’t want to pay, none of us want to pay too much.
“The problem is it is such a popular asset it gets a lot of wear, so it needs a lot of maintenance. I would not like to get to two or three years’ time when we have got to close parts of the park or the car park because they are a liability to the people and this borough.
“Two pounds seems to compare very favourably with other authorities, it may well be usage may well drop off for the first few months after it is introduced, but they do tend to come back when people realise the £2 is worth the wonderful asset that is there for them.”
She said concerns from neighbouring properties over parking on residential streets will be monitored closely.
