Hike in parking charges at Bristol beauty spots approved

Bristol City Council's cabinet agreed up to 50% increases at Oldbury Court, Blaise Estate and Ashton Court

A hike in parking charges at three beauty spots has been approved.

Bristol City Council's cabinet agreed up to 50% increases at Oldbury Court, Blaise Estate and Ashton Court.

Neighbours and opposing councillors warned drivers had already started to avoid new pay-and-display parking nearby by using residential roads.

Council leaders promised that drivers would not park in their streets and Bristol's mayor insisted the new fees would not impact visitor numbers.

The new charges will mean four hours of parking at Oldbury Court will now cost motorists £3.50

Charges will rise from £1 to £1.50 for up to an hour and from £2 to £2.60 for two hours at Ashton Court and Blaise. They will rise from £2 to £2.50 for two hours at Oldbury Court.

There will be a new charge of £3.50 for three hours at Ashton Court and Blaise and four hours at Oldbury, while five-hour stays are going up from £3 to £4.50 at Ashton Court and Blaise.

Mayor Marvin Rees and council officers insist trials of the charges, which came into force at Oldbury Court and Blaise a year ago, had shown no significant impact on visitor numbers to the parks' cafes and kiosks, so people were now more likely to walk or cycle instead of driving.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Conservative councillor Mark Weston warned the fees from the trial had created "huge problems in nearby residential streets".

He said the increases would "only make a bad situation worse".

Ms King said plans had been put in place to monitor any parking issues during the price hike

Labour councillor Ellie King said work would now take place to check this was not the case following the concerns.

"We are implementing electronic counting of access into the car parks to monitor the traffic that is coming in and we will be analysing the changes to keep an eye on that," she said.

Disability and passenger transport campaigner David Redgewell said green travel plans and improved disabled access were needed for attractions.

"We are asking that some of the money from the charges goes into disabled access and that discussions take place with disabled groups to make sure these parks are fully accessible," he said.

"We need a city for everybody, not just for the few."

Mr Rees said conversations would take place with Bristol Disability Equality Commission and other groups to understand and address any challenges.