Many families will be planning trip to the seaside during the Easter holidays – but they might be in for an expensive day out.
Drivers heading to tourist hotspots are being hit by inflation-beating parking fees that have more than doubled in some places, The i Paper has found.
A number of cash-strapped councils are raising parking charges as they look to boost revenues to help fund local services. Last year English councils made £1.2bn in profit from parking fees, according to government figures.
Motoring groups warned that the decisions could backfire by warding off visitors and hurting local businesses. Some of the biggest jumps in coastal parking charges have been in Brighton, East Sussex.
Where parking charges are rising
Brighton and Hove City Council raised seafront charges by as much as 256 per cent in some areas from the start of March, with the same tariffs applying along the seafront road from Madeira Drive to the King Alfred Leisure Centre.
The one-hour tariff has almost trebled from £1.60 to £5.70, according to council documents.
Longer stays in the area have increased in price too. The two-hour charge has risen from £3.30 to £9.80, and for four hours it has climbed from £7 to £16.50. The 11-hour rate more than doubled from £11.80 to £24.90.
At the Black Rock car park, the 12-hour fee will hit £18, up from £12.10.
In Bournemouth, Dorset, and other areas controlled by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pool Council, fees rose by 6 per cent in mid-March in seafront and other areas with higher demand.
The average rise across car parks and on-street spaces managed by the local authority was 4 per cent.
Permits for season car parks in Tenby will increase by a third (Photo: Getty Images)Visitors to Tenby and other coastal areas in Pembrokeshire, Wales, will be hit by changes designed to bring in more than £25,000 a year in extra revenue for the local authority from 1 April.
A permit to allow vehicles to park at seasonal car parks will jump from £120 to £160 for the season.
In Whitby and other coastal areas in North Yorkshire, fees are rising by 10 per cent from 1 April.
In Cornwall, fees will climb by 3.6 per cent in all council car parks from the same date, and a number of free car parks will introduce tariffs for the first time.
Two car parks in Truro are becoming free after 4pm but all other tariffs will be raised to offset the income lost.
In Blackpool, parking fee increases are set to take effect on 7 April across swathes of streets and car parks.
In Margate, on-street parking fees will jump from £8 to £8.40 for two hours at Cecil Square and from £5.40 to £6 on a number of streets from 1 April.
In nearby Broadstairs, which is also controlled by Kent County Council, on-street fees will rise from £5.20 to £5.60 for four hours on Lawn Road, and from £6.50 to £7 for 15 hours on Elmwood Avenue.
Unintended consequences
Not all councils are increasing fees. In Southend-on-Sea, Essex, parking fees have been lowered or frozen by the city council, which said it took the decision to help visitors and residents with the cost of living, as well as local businesses.
Edmund King, president of the AA motoring group, warned that local authorities “need to tread carefully when it comes to excessive parking charges”.
He said: “Drivers and tourists do have choices as to where they visit or shop.
“If local authorities continue to disproportionately hike parking charges, drivers, shoppers, and tourists will vote with their wheels and frequent out-of-town shopping centres or tourist spots with lower charges.”
Southend-on-Sea is one seaside hotspot where parking charges won’t be rising (Photo: Getty Images)Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, another motoring group, said a trip to the beach at some of the country’s most iconic seaside locations is “getting even more expensive this summer”.
He said: “Councils are clearly capitalising on car parking to generate extra revenue, albeit they’re only allowed to use the surplus for wider transport purposes.
“Let’s just hope these increases don’t put people off visiting in the first place and spending money with local businesses when they get there.”
The i Paper approached the councils raising parking fees for comment.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council said the changes reflected financial pressures and would fund essential services.
Brighton and Hove City Council said it froze all parking charges last year and is freezing daily charges on council-owned barrier-operated car parks this year, including those near the seafront and city centre.
Pembrokeshire County Council said parking charges have only increased in some areas.
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