Residents' spending fall blamed on parking hikes

A rise in parking charges in York has driven a fall in residents' spending at city centre businesses, according to the city's Business Improvement District (BID).

The not-for-profit organisation, which represents local firms, said its data showed residents' spending was down by £8m - or 5.7% - this year compared to 2024.

Andrew Lowson, York BID executive director, said businesses had reported that the cost of parking was hitting those firms which depended on local trade particularly hard.

However, Kate Ravilious, York Council's Labour transport spokesperson, said the fall had been offset by a rise in visitors' spending and warned that lowering parking charges would clog up roads with cars.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, York BID's figures showed that residents' city centre spending in June was down by 10.3% compared to the same time last year.

Earlier this year, City of York Council raised parking charges within the inner ring road in York to £4.85 an hour for the first two hours from Sunday to Thursday, with a premium rate for weekends and events.

For some car parks, such as Bishopthorpe Road, that meant a fee rise of 500%, prompting a backlash from traders that later saw the authority revise the prices to £3 an hour.

Mr Lowson said: "Hospitality venues are reporting that two hours of parking can now cost more than a coffee and cake, and that kind of difference is enough to stop someone popping into town - and those small lost transactions quickly add up.

"If local people stop using their own city centre, the mix of shops and services inevitably shifts towards something aimed solely at tourists. That's not the future York wants."

The BID has called for parking charges to be reduced during off-peak times to draw people into the city centre during quieter periods.

Phil Pinder, chair of the York High Street Forum, said: "The worst fears of city traders have now been realised - that the hikes in car parking charges have driven locals away from the city centre."

Ravilious, City of York Council's transport executive member, said a review was now set to take place into charges at Bishopthorpe Road after traders lodged a request under the Traffic Management Act 2004's Right to Challenge Parking Policies.

The drop in residents' spending reflected national trends and other factors impacted the local economy, she said.

"In the 12 months to September this year, the change in sales from the previous year was 0.8%," she explained.

"It's unhelpful to pick limited data to develop an argument that, were it implemented, would lead to greater traffic congestion across York.

"York is a city with good public transport options for getting in and out of the city centre, so we don't want to go backwards in clogging up the city centre with traffic."

Ravilious added that the council had committed more than £6m to make buses a more reliable option for residents and visitors.

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