UK councils ‘holding public spaces hostage’ with cheap parking
Councils have been accused of allowing public spaces to be “held hostage” by motorists after the huge difference in cost between parking charges and the cost of suspending parking was revealed.
The latest figures, published by the climate charity Possible, lay bare the significant cost increase between a parking permit, used for vehicles such as cars and vans, and the cost of parking bay suspensions to use the space for other purposes.
It is 115 times more expensive to suspend a parking bay in the UK, with an average weekly cost of £158.06, than to pay for a parking permit, which has an average weekly cost of £1.38, the data showed.
Parking bay suspensions can be used for a variety of reasons, including for skips and moving properties, but also have been used as community spaces for seating, gardens or cycle parking.
Possible’s head of car-free cities, Hirra Khan Adeogun, accused local authorities of allowing private cars to dominate public spaces and called for people to be prioritised over private vehicle use.
“We’re letting private cars hold our public space hostage,” she said. “The fact that some cities aren’t even charging for parking just goes to show how local politicians are missing opportunities to break cities free from car dominance.”
According to an RAC Foundation study last year, cars remain parked and unused for an average of 23 hours a day, with the average car or van in England driven just 4% of the time, a figure that has barely changed over the past 25 years.
Khan Adeogun added: “Most of the time private cars are going completely unused and taking up valuable public space.
“We need to shift to a better system, one that prioritises people over private vehicles, gives space for communities to thrive and makes
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