Calls to stop uni parking charge increase

A student said the price increase was "nothing short of a betrayal"

A student has started a petition to halt a planned campus parking charge increase.

Sunderland University will increase registered vehicle parking charges from £1.30 to £6 per day and from £0.35 to £1.60 per hour from 1 August.

The petition started by a nursing student said the "enormous increase felt like nothing short of a betrayal", as students and staff had to commute from areas like Teesside, Durham and Northumberland.

The university said the current cost for parking on campus was "significantly below parking charges in Sunderland and other comparable city centres in the region".

A statement accompanying the online petition says some students studying nursing spend 50% of their course on campus in lectures, simulation or other sessions.

"For those that have no choice but to drive, this is extremely worrying because some can not justify attending sessions on campus with such fees in place unnecessarily," the statement added.

The University of Sunderland said the changes were part of plans to reduce expenditure and increase income in response to wider pressures facing the higher education sector.

"We have always done our best to maintain car parking charges at the City Centre and St Peter’s campuses at the same rate for many years," a spokesman said.

"The current cost for parking on campus is significantly below parking charges in Sunderland and other comparable city centres in the region."