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Car parking hits the pocket hard
Car park charges vary wildly from town to town and so it pays to think about where you shop or visit. Sophie Hazan reports.
IT'S amazing what a little bit of forward planning can save you when it comes to car parking.
Take commuters, day trippers or holidaymakers using the park-and-ride facilities at Leeds City Train Station, run by APCOA in partnership with Network Rail.
There is an outdoor short stay pay-and-display facility at the rear entrance off Aire Street, or a multi-storey long-stay car park next door. A motorist parking for up to three hours in the short stay facility will be charged 35 – the most expensive parking tariff Consumerwatch found in the whole of Leeds.
Next door the same motorist would pay 7 for up to four hours.
Those prepared to walk five minutes down the road can park at Town Centre Car Parks' Whitehall Road site for the entire day (7am to 6.30am the next day) for 50p more at 7.50. Motorists parking after 2.30pm for the afternoon pay 3, or 3.50 for a full day on the Saturday. Walk a little further and prices drop yet again.
Across the road, motorists using the Wellington Place pay and display facility are charged slightly less during the week as long as they collect their vehicle before midnight the same day.
By comparison, users of the Dewsbury Railway Station car park on Station Road are charged just 1 for three hours, according to the Kirklees website.
Generally, the more central and convenient a parking spot is to an attraction – shops, a cinema or music venue – the more expensive it will be.
Theatre goers visiting Leeds Grand by car should be careful. Many choose to park at the city's nearby Chinatown.
The NCP off-street parking at Edward Street is a particular draw and charges 6 for 24 hours – or 5 for a couple of hours – with no reductions for evening stays.
Note that the Leeds City Council Edward Street metered car parking is free after 6pm. If these are full, the meters around Kirkgate Market charge 1 after 5.30pm in the week.
Commercial shopping parks tend to offer free parking to attract people away from town and city centres – but remember to check the parking policies, as some impose a maximum length of stay.
Local authority car parks tend to be cheaper than those privately owned, as are off-street multi-storey car parks compared to on-street pay and displays.
Similarly, the bigger and more popular a shopping area the more expensive it is to park.
So it costs less to park outside Otley Market than Kirkgate Market in Leeds.
Likewise, it is cheaper to park in Normanton and Castleford than Wakefield city centre.
For those wanting to save money on parking the message is clear – do as much shopping as you can locally and be prepared to park that bit further from your destination. Better still, pay nothing at all on parking by walking, taking public transport or cycling.
The Woodhouse Lane council run multi-storey car park is located close to the universities and a 10-minute walk from Leeds city centre.
It charges less than the privately-run car parks at the neighbouring St John's and Merrion Centre shopping centres.
Woodhouse Lane charges 8 for stays of five to 14 hours (closing at 9pm weekdays), the Merrion Centre charges between 10 and 18 for the same period (but is open 24 hours) and St John's 12.80 to 20.10 (again open 24 hours).
Also watch out for tariff banding.
St John's charges a flat 12.80 for motorists whether they park for four, five, six, seven or eight hours – that could mean a huge hike for the driver who overstays a planned four- hour stay which is charged at 7.70.
The Merrion Centre increases its charges hour-by-hour so it costs 8.50 for up to five hours or 10 for up to six hours.
The Light is also a pricey option and costs 13.50 for up to eight hours, but it was the cleanest and brightest of the city centre shopping centre car parks.
Consumerwatch spoke to Leeds City Council and Wakefield Council.
Overall, Leeds City Council raked in 7.5m in 2009/10 purely on car parking charges – 3.3m from on-street fees, and 4.2m for off-street fees.
That money will be ploughed back into public highways.
There was a three per cent increase in local authority car park charges in 2008/09. Another three per cent hike is due again in September.
By comparison, Wakefield Council's current car parking rates are frozen at April 2007 prices, there has been no increase for two years, though fees are currently under review.
Wakefield Council car parks raised 1.6m after tax in 2008/09, which will be used for transport and highways.
A Leeds City Council spokesman denied that increasing car parking fees or charging more at popular sites was simply a way to make more money.
He claimed it was a way of keeping motorists moving and maximising the number of visitors to an area, helping businesses along the way.
On car park charges, he said: "It all depends on demand.
"So in car parks with high demand we want a relatively quick turn over.
"It isn't about us making more money out of more popular places. If you had a car park next to the Kirkgate Market, which is incredibly popular, we don't want people parking there all day and going off to work.
"That would limit the number of people accessing the shops and stalls there."
A Wakefield Council spokesman said car park fees were "in line with similar sized neighbouring authorities."
Asked why there was such regional variation, he added: "In the Wakefield district the only variations are within the various towns where charges apply where size and sustainability have been the deciding factors.
"There are initial plans within Wakefield to make this a zonal pattern which in principle will be cheaper the further out you go from the city centre (dependent on current developments in the city being completed)."
Useful websites
Leeds City Council car parks – www.leeds.gov.uk/parking
Town Centre Securities (including the Merrion Centre) – www.tcs-plc.co.uk Wakefield City Council
NCP (including St John's) – www.ncp.co.uk
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – www.leedsteachinghospitals.com/patients/findus
APCOA (including Leeds Train Station) – www.apcoa.co.uk
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