Yorkshire Water introduce parking charges at beauty spots

Swinsty Reservoir is one of three sites where parking charges have been introduced

Parking charges have been introduced at three beauty spots in North Yorkshire.

Visitors to Swinsty, Fewston and Thruscross reservoirs, near Otley, will be asked to pay to park, with charges starting from £1.

Yorkshire Water, which manages the sites, said the income generated would fund rangers, conservation projects and improve facilities.

Peter Coddington, from the firm, said it wanted to try and reduce the "burden" on its bill payers.

"Since the Covid lockdowns there's been tremendous interest in our sites," he said.

"That level of interest hasn't gone away, so to try and lessen the burden on the water bill payer we are looking to levy a small charge that can get reinvested in the footpaths around the sites."

Yorkshire Water's Peter Coddington said the income from the charges will be reinvested

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water, which made a £544m profit in 2022-23, said the charges would be trialled for a year before a decision on making them permanent would be taken.

The charges range from £1 for an hour to £5 for the day. An annual pass is also available at a cost of £30.

Jim Ashman, who was visiting Swinsty Reservoir on Monday, said: "It's not a huge amount, but people are going to park all over the place in lay-bys and they are all going to get full now.

"There isn't a need for it, there aren't any problems."

Clare Jackson, who was walking her dog by the reservoir, said: "It's a small price to play for using a beautiful part of the world.

"I realise there's a lot of controversy around Yorkshire Water, but if it helps improve the area then I do support it."

Plans to introduce charges at two car parks at Langsett Reservoir, near Penistone, have also proved to be controversial - with two different bodies taking opposing stances.

The Peak District National Park Authority approved plans for charges at the Langsett Barn car park in October 2022, but Barnsley Council blocked the same scheme for the nearby Flouch car park.

The Yorkshire Water spokesperson said parking charges were not currently planned at Langsett Reservoir.