I have read a report published by the RAC Foundation which shows that councils in England have seen their parking ‘profits’ rise by almost a third (32%) in just four years and in 2017-18 stood at £867m.
I understand that any parking income has to be used to meet the cost of providing and running that parking, and if, after that, there is a surplus/profit then that will generally have to be used on transport and environmental projects.
Some councils are very explicit about where the money goes. For example, the Brighton Council annual parking report shows that around £11m a year is used to support concessionary bus fares.
Furthermore, in Nottingham much of the surplus in recent years has been spent on the tram system they are building.
Looking at a number of towns and cities’ annual parking reports that are available online, it appears that, as usual, coaches have been forgotten about.
With so many locations closing coach parks or relocating them out of town – with many having no coach parking facilities at all – I wonder why some of this millions of pounds can’t be used to provide parking for coaches and, in turn, offer coach groups the welcome they deserve?
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