Council makes U-turn on parking fee changes

North Yorkshire Council has paused its plan to increase parking charges, following objections to big rises in costs.

Last week, the authority announced plans to put up fees in council-owned car parks across the county by 10%, a move it said would raise more than £3.5m a year.

Evening and Sunday parking charges where parking is currently free were also proposed.

Although the 10% increase will still go ahead from 1 April, the rebalancing and extra charges would be scrapped for now.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the decision came after members of the controlling Conservative and Independents group objected to big increases in parking fees in their divisions.

Independent Ripon councillor, Andrew Williams, said a report on rebalancing had been prepared by officers without involvement from senior councillors.

He added: "When I became aware of the report at the weekend, I contacted the leader to obviously express my considerable angst and concern about the impact that the proposals would have not just on Ripon, but on parking in towns across North Yorkshire.

"I'm delighted that common sense is prevailing and that all of this is off the table."

The change in direction was confirmed by the council's corporate director of environment Karl Battersby.

"While we remain committed to developing a fair and consistent approach to parking following the launch of North Yorkshire Council, the feedback we have received clearly shows that further discussion is needed," he said.

"As a result, the proposed rebalancing of parking charges will be paused, as well as plans to introduce evening and weekend charges.

"We will now work closely with councillors and stakeholders to better understand local circumstances and ensure that any future proposals are developed as part of reviews of specific areas."

The changes, including the rebalancing, would have generated £3.5m in extra income for the council, which had already been included in its budget for 2026/27.

Council chiefs said the rethink on rebalancing and evening and Sunday charges would reduce that amount by £1.7m.

Battersby said further work would be carried out to develop updated recommendations, which would then be included in the council's financial plan.

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