Council leaders promised to make sure drivers do not leave their vehicles in residential streets as they approved massive hikes in car park charges at three beauty spots. Bristol City Council cabinet agreed increases of up to 50 per cent at Oldbury Court, Blaise Estate and Ashton Court.
Neighbours and opposition councillors say motorists are already avoiding the recently introduced pay-and-display by parking in nearby roads and causing traffic problems and nuisance for people living there. 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.
Conservative opposition group leader Cllr Mark Weston, who represents Henbury & Brentry, said in a statement to the meeting on Tuesday, April 4, that this was not true and that the fees had created “huge problems in nearby residential streets”. He said the big price increases would “only make a bad situation worse”.
Read more: Car parking fees at three huge Bristol parks set to go up
Labour cabinet member for public health and communities Cllr Ellie King told cabinet that work would now take place to check this was not the case following the concerns. She said she was aware of the complaints about displacement parking and that the issue was raised to her at the inaugural annual meeting of the Friends of Oldbury Court group last weekend.
“We are doing some monitoring to make sure that gets actioned and that it has the desired results, so 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,” said Cllr King. “We will also have a parking officer monitoring throughout April to observe compliance with the scheme just to make sure these things are being actioned and monitored, and it’s a process that can be adapted as time goes on to make sure we are doing the right thing.”
Disability and passenger transport campaigner David Redgewell told the meeting that green travel plans must be produced for heritage and tourist attractions and that access for disabled people needed to be improved. He said Blaise Castle house was still not fully accessible to wheelchair users and that he was concerned that there might be a repeat of last year’s Bristol International Balloon Fiesta fiasco at Ashton Court where the shuttle buses were cancelled because of a lack of drivers.
Mr Redgewell said: “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. We need a city for everybody, not just for the few.”
The Labour mayor replied: “It’s a point well made. There has historically been investment at Ashton Court and Blaise Estate to improve accessibility, and we had the investment in Stoke Park for the path that goes across the field now.”
He said conversations would take place with Bristol Disability Equality Commission, which Mr Rees set up, and other groups so the council could understand and address the challenges for some people. “We are approving today £500,000 investment for Oldbury Court in play facilities and improving access to the estate, and as part of the design and delivery of the work we will engage with stakeholders to identify what we should prioritise for disabled visitors,” Bristol’s mayor said.
“The council has already committed £220,000 at Oldbury Court to improve a stretch of footpath along the River Frome and widen the Halfpenny Bridge to Snuff Mills. So there is work ongoing but we will partner with constructive city partners to make sure that’s done as well.”
Mr Rees said he would also ensure there was a “solid discussion” about transport to the balloon fiesta. Extra cash from the parking fees will be invested back into maintaining parks.
Charges will rise from £1 to £1.50 for up to an hour and from £2 to £2.60 at Ashton Court and Blaise and £2.50 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.
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