Moorlands parking charges set for April increase

Parking tariffs will increase by more than eight percent under the district council's plans

The cost of parking in council-run car parks in the Staffordshire Moorlands is set to increase by more than eight percent from April.

If the move is approved by councillors, it will cost 10p more to park on the lowest tariff.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) leaders decided against increasing the lowest tariff by 20p after receiving £83,000 in additional government funding.

The authority, controlled by a Labour minority administration, is also planning to look at how car parks in the towns across its area could become more "social spaces".

Currently, most council car parks across Leek, Cheadle and Biddulph charge £1.20 for one hour, increasing to £1.90 for two hours and £2.80 for up to three hours.

Under the plans, there would from April be a 8.33% increase applied at the lowest tariff with the same percentage increase at higher tariff rates and then rounded.

The cost of a parking permit is set to stay the same. 

The increase in fees is part of plans to avoid a four-year budget deficit, with the funding gap at one time estimated to hit £2.6m.

However, measures such as increasing council tax, making efficiency savings and increasing fees and charges has balanced the books.

'Social spaces'

Council leader Mike Gledhill told councillors that deciding on a 10p rise rather than 20p fitted in with an idea to "review generally how we do car parking charging in the Staffordshire Moorlands".

Councillor Matt Swindlehurst said there was a lot of interest around "moving away from the previous administration’s approach".

He described that as "a sort of one size fits all for these car parks".

The council instead wanted to discuss with town and parish councils how the car parks could be used as much more "flexible social spaces", he added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.