Wetherby: Leeds City Council told to reconsider parking charges plan in 'significant step' for campaigners

It has been almost a year since the authority launched a consultation on scrapping free parking for six sites in Wetherby, Horsforth, Garforth, Rothwell and Guiseley, prompting significant backlash.

But the council has sought to press ahead with the charges, as a recent report explained they could make £335,500 in a year to help plug a multi-million pound budget black hole.

However, those plans have faced their latest hurdle - as a meeting of the authority’s Scrutiny Board saw a “call in” on the proposal, which is when a member asks for a decision to be reviewed at a special hearing.

It was agreed at the meeting on Thursday (November 21) that the plans would be looked at again, as the authority’s leader of the opposition Coun Alan Lamb explained.

Don’t miss a single thing when it comes to news across Leeds, sign up for the Yorkshire Evening Post’s free daily newsletter today

“I’m delighted to report that we won the call in on Parking Charges in Wetherby,” he said in a statement after the meeting. “The scrutiny committee has voted by 5-4 to tell the council to reconsider their decision.

“It’s by no means the end of the process but this is significant step in our efforts to stop parking charges being implemented in Wetherby.”

He told the YEP: “The council now has three options. It can either crack on with the plans, withdraw them, or look at amendments. The ideal outcome would be for the council to drop it completely. I’d hope that we’ve got a council that will actually listen to what people want.”

The six car parks that would be affected are: Wilderness and Station Gardens in Wetherby, Fink Hill in Horsforth, Barleyhill Road in Garforth, Marsh Street in Rothwell and Netherfield Road in Guiseley.

Under the plans, blue badge holders would be exempt from payments. Motorists would get up to one hour for free, then pay £1.15 for two hours, rising to a daily maximum of £3.65. Weekly tickets would cost £12.15.

Charges would be lower at one of the car parks, Station Gardens in Wetherby, where up to three hours would be free because it used by sports teams. There would be a £2.15 daily charge and weekly tickets costing £10.15.

A report said: “The introduction of a modest charge for car parking would enable improvement works to be carried out as well as meet costs associated with maintaining car park areas.”