Swansea Council has been criticised for charging people £5 to park so that they could take part in a charity race which raised thousands of pounds for Cancer Research UK. The Pretty Muddy 5k took place in Singleton Park in Swansea on Saturday July 23.
Hundreds of runners participated in the Race for Life event, which is an annual highlight once more after races in 2020 and 2021 were called off due to the coronavirus outbreak. You can keep up to date with the latest Swansea news by signing up to the local newsletter here.
There were no official car parking spaces provided for the event, so many people parked at the Recreation Ground Car Park off Mumbles Road, a short distance from the entrance to Singleton Park. The car park is run and managed by Swansea Council, who normally charge either £4 a day to park there (driver only), £3.50 a day (driver and passenger) or just £2.50 for afternoon parking (from 1pm).
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However, on Saturday, with the Race for Life event taking place next door, the charge was £5, with security guards in attendance at the car park together with people collecting cash from drivers as they entered or offering the facility to pay for parking by card. The charge, or the amount of it at least, was something that did not sit well with many taking part or offering support to fundraising runners.
“My daughter was part of a team that was raising money for Cancer Research,” said Paul Groves from Port Talbot, who got to Swansea early on Saturday with his daughter. “We got to the car park to be met by a lot of cars going in but being stopped and charged £5 per car to enter. It felt in bad taste because everyone going in was there to raise money.
“Having spoken to people there it seems like the parking fee is normally cheaper, so it feels like they’ve inflated the cost for this event. We spoke to a couple of the people who were collecting the money and they said that a lot of people were angry but they couldn’t do anything as they were just employees. Everyone I spoke to just felt a little bit aggrieved. I would much rather give that £5 to Cancer Research.”
Despite the parking woes, the Pretty Muddy £5k was a huge success, with an announcement made to the crowds on Saturday confirming that more than £45,000 had been raised for Cancer Research UK. As Mr Groves has suggested, however, that total could have been even greater had at least some of the parking revenue gone to the charity.
“It just didn’t feel fair or right in this day and age when people haven’t got a lot of money,” he added. “What really stuck in my throat was when someone said they were charged less than £5 to park at the same car park the previous weekend. I think they actually raised the price for Saturday’s event.”
Swansea Council has not denied that it did in fact increase the parking charge on Saturday during the Pretty Muddy race, but explained that doing so is common if there is a need to cover "any extra costs" which may be incurred due to certain events. A spokesman for the council said: "The Recreation Ground is designated as an events car park when events are held at Singleton Park. When this happens, our usual procedure is to vary the standard daily charge to accommodate any extra costs involved, such as introducing safety stewards to assist with an increased volume of cars."
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