Parking charge plan for council headquarters

Nottinghamshire County Council is set to introduce car parking charges at its headquarters as part of a wider plan to generate almost £400,000.

Motorists will have to pay to park at County Hall in West Bridgford for non-council use from late spring this year.

The council said charges will apply outside normal council business hours, ensuring staff, councillors and official visitors are not affected.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras will be installed, allowing payments to be made via an app-based system rather than manually by staff.

The council said 120 spaces are currently being used each day by members of the public for non-council purposes, particularly in the evenings.

Current parking arrangements for Nottingham Forest home games and major sporting events such as international cricket fixtures at Trent Bridge will continue as usual.

James Walker-Gurley, the county council's cabinet member for economic development and asset management, said the council wants to be "commercially-savvy".

"It is important that we really maximise council assets and land," he said.

"The investment of an ANPR system will, in the long term, help us reduce current car parking operating costs, help generate income, as well as making sure the primary use of the car park during normal working hours is for staff parking and for those visiting County Hall.

"This is good news for taxpayers as we can invest this money back into council services."

Other plans by the council to raise £392,500 from its assets from late spring until March 2027 include:

• Designating part of the lower County Hall car park as a park and ride to East Midlands Airport, utilising the Skylink bus service.

• Reviewing rents and leases on council-owned land and buildings, including industrial units and farm tenancies. The council said this could generate an extra £60,000 by March 2027.

• Installing licensed parcel lockers at key council sites such as libraries, bus stations and car parks, potentially bringing in £30,000 per year

Walker-Gurley said that the proposals were designed to make the council's assets work harder while ensuring minimal disruption to staff and visitors.

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