Welsh councils make £13.8m from car parking charges

Cardiff council made the biggest profit on car parking of all Welsh local authorities. Its sites include Cathays Park around the crown court

Car parking charges made Welsh councils a combined profit of £13.8m in 2015/16, figures from the RAC Foundation show.

The total - that includes on and off-street parking and penalty charges minus running costs - means it is the third year in a row the figure has increased.

Of the 22 councils, 19 made a profit, with Cardiff (£3.5m) the biggest.

Three councils lost money on parking - Flintshire (£423,000), Blaenau Gwent (£310,000) and Torfaen (£81,000).

Before running costs were taken off, the local authorities had a combined parking income of £35.8m - a 5.6% increase on the previous 12 months.

The RAC Foundation takes official returns given to the Welsh Government by each local authority and analyses them.

'Recovering economy'

Its director Steve Gooding said the figures "up sharply again" could reflect "a recovering economy with people using their cars more".

Earlier this month, the Wales Audit Office said Welsh councils could raise much-needed cash by charging more for services.

However, it cautioned against some rises, citing the potential for increased car parking fees to stop tourists and shoppers visiting town and city centres.

Mr Gooding called for profits made from parking to be ploughed back into transport projects - including the ongoing campaign to tackle potholes.

He said while towns and cities should not be dominated by cars, more than 80% of employees in Blaenau Gwent, Neath Port Talbot and Torfaen rely on their vehicles to get to work - some of the highest levels in the UK.

Swansea (£2.4m) and Gwynedd (£1.4m) recorded the second and third highest profits, while Monmouthshire's system was the most efficient - with £490,000 spent and £1.42m brought in.