Leeds City Council set to hike car parking charges next year as authority notes benefits to air quality

The majority of tariffs will increase by 20p in January, under proposals, after Leeds City Council conducted a review of all parking fees.

The local authority admitted the move could make driving into the city centre “less attractive”, though sites outside the city centre are affected by the hike too.

A small number of car parks, including Beckett Street, near St James’ Hospital, and Maude Street in the city centre, would be exempt from the increase.

There will also be no changes to evening and Sunday charges at any car park run by the local authority, while free parking for blue badge holders will remain.

But from January 8, the price of a two-hour stay at West Street Car Park is set to be £3.90, up from £3.70. At Hunslet Lane, meanwhile, charges for a 90-minute stay would increase from £3 to £3.20.

Drivers leaving their vehicles for four hours at the council’s car parks on Burley Road and Kirkstall Road will soon be charged £2.40, compared to £2.20 this year, under the proposals.

At Templar Street on the north-eastern edge of the city centre, a two-hour stay would be £2, up from £1.80. A six-hour stay at Gledhow Road, Harehills, is also likely to go up by 20p to £3.

An online council report detailing the changes said that while demand for short stay parking in Leeds has “recovered to pre-Covid levels”, long-stay areas are still “not as busy as expected.”

The report said: “As higher prices may make driving into the city centre less attractive it could lead to a reduction in car journeys as customers choose a different mode of transport such as park and ride. A reduction in traffic and congestion also contributes towards better air quality.”

At the Leeds Arena car park on Woodhouse Lane, tariffs for stays of up to four hours will be frozen. However, the price of a six-hour stay will probably rise from £7 to £7.50 in the new year, while a 12-hour stay is also proposed to go up by 50p to £8.50.

In Otley, drivers using the town’s three free car parks will still not be charged. But prices could rise from 40p-an-hour to 50p-an-hour at the three sites that do charge.

Earlier this year, the council had to abandon plans to bring in 40p-an-hour parking charges at parks and green spaces across the city, following a backlash.