Residents criticise 'disgusting' parking pass fees

Residents currently require passes to park next to the properties in Eccleshill but do not have to pay

Elderly residents living in Bradford Council-run flats have joined calls for parking pass charges to be scrapped, with one woman branding the move "disgusting".

In October, tenants living in Eccleshill were told that from April they would have to pay £35 a year for a single pass and an additional £40 for a visitor spot.

Several people living on Rowanberry Close and Whitebeam Walk told the BBC the move would cause further hardship on top of changes to the winter fuel payment.

The cash-strapped local authority said it had kept the passes "free for as long as we could afford to".

The £35 charge is part of a series of changes to parking fees in the city, which councillors say will help raise £2.7m over the next two and half years.

Some residents, however, say they would rather scrap the schemes - which are designed to protect on-street parking spaces for permit holders - than pay.

Four separate petitions across the district have been set up calling for the charges to be dropped.

Patricia Pickering has lived in her flat in the complex for four years

Patricia Pickering, 77, has lived in her flat for four years.

"There will be a lot of people like me who are no longer entitled to the winter fuel allowance," she said.

"That £75 that we'll be paying for parking, well that could go towards your heating."

The retired supervisor continued: "We're coming up to Christmas - if they want to charge, charge less, charge £10 per pass."

Across Bradford, about 14,000 resident and visitor permits are issued, bringing in about £500,000 a year.

Grace Gee described cars as a "lifeline" for many disabled or elderly residents

Resident Grace Gee, 75, said: "They're just abusing the pensioners again.

"This is a disabled complex, pensioners and disabled people, everybody in it is one or the other and their cars are their lifeline."

In 2020, residents asked the council to bring in free parking passes as too many people who did not live in the flats were taking up spaces.

"We went for the permits as we couldn't get parked outside our own homes, now we've got permits and it's worse than ever," Mrs Gee said.

"We're going to have to pay for them and they'll still be parking illegally outside our homes."

She added: "Traffic wardens aren't doing enough ticketing, if they did some fines that would cover the cost of the permits."

Pauline Taylor wants the whole permit scheme scrapped in the complex

In late October, the local authority said it was facing "severe financial challenges, among the most significant in local government nationally".

Pauline Taylor, 64, who lives in the 88-flat complex, said: "I think it's disgusting, most people here are in their 80s or 70s.

"They've had their winter fuel taken off them, now they're going to have to pay for parking permits."

She added: "The council can take the signs down, we don't want them anymore."

A Bradford Council spokesperson ruled out a review and said the new charges had been agreed in its March budget.

"Charging for permits is quite common in other authorities but we kept them free for as long as we could afford to," they said.

"However, there is a cost to managing these schemes and given the wider financial situation for councils across the country we could not continue to subsidise them any longer."

They concluded: "If residents have any concerns about enforcement they can contact the service who will look to send additional wardens to the area to check compliance.”

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