Leeds Council issues update on plans to introduce parking charges at Roundhay Park, Temple Newsam and 27 other sites in Leeds

The cash-strapped local authority revealed in December it was planning to introduce fees at some green spaces in the city to help balance its books.

Golden Acre Park in Bramhope, Kirkstall Abbey, Middleton Park, Otley Chevin Park, Roundhay Park and Temple Newsam were among the sites where free parking for the city’s residents was set to end.

The plans, which included charges starting at 40p-an-hour, and led to much criticism have now been officially scrapped for the time being.

A statement from council confirmed that after gauging public opinion and taking feedback into account, the decision had been taken not to proceed with consultation on this proposal for its 2023/24 budget.

Coun Salma Arif, council's executive member for public health and active lifestyles, said:

“We have a firm commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of people in Leeds and ensuring they have access to parks and greenspaces is key to that. The initial proposals that were scheduled for consultation with the public were to introduce modest charges for car parking at a number of our parks, which would enable improvement works to be carried out as well as contributing to the council’s budgetary pressures.

“However, having listened to the valuable feedback we have received from residents, we will not be progressing this proposal at this time. Nonetheless, the financial outlook for all local authorities remains challenging and further work will need to be done to identify further savings and efficiencies for 2024/25 onwards.”

There are 63 community parks and 7 major parks in Leeds that are managed and run by the council’s parks and countryside service. These spaces contain a variety of facilities including playgrounds, sport pitches and gardens for local people to enjoy.

In total, the service manage and maintain over 4000 hectares of lands. The parks & countryside budget figures for 23/24 are a net managed budget of £10.219m and the council is committed to spending over £39m on its parks and greenspaces over the next 12 months.