Higher car park fees touted at national park

Dale Spridgeon Local Democracy Reporter

A national park estimates it could generate an additional £500k in income of by charging higher fees for car parking.

Boosting retail opportunities at visitor centres was also part of the Eryri National Park’s financial strategy, whilst staff reductions were considered “a last resort”.

Operating within “a challenging financial context” the Authority said its current year’s budget deficit of £635,850 was set to “significantly increase”.

A report ‘Addressing the Financial Challenge’ presented at a meeting last Wednesday (December 10) stated in the short term, raising fees on car parking had “by far the biggest potential” to boost income, and increasing charges should be “a top priority”.

Efforts to reduce the deficit in the baseline budget had included increasing income, reducing non-staff costs and the number of staff.

However the report stated “reducing the number of staff is regarded as a last resort.

“The Authority’s main strength is of course its staff, and we are fortunate to have a pool of very talented and committed staff..

“Therefore, whilst the perilous nature of the financial situation and its implications are fully understood, we will do our utmost to avoid compulsory redundancies”.

Among strategies to reduce the “financial challenges,” was a review of parking charges and increasing retail income at visitor centres.

“Taking action” the report stated was “crucial” and income generated from car parks would play “a critical role”.

The report said “officers considered with a degree of confidence” that income generation in the short term could amount to £540K – mostly through car park income and retail.

The car park strategy would include increasing tariffs, different tariff regimes, use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to discourage unauthorised car parking.

It would also assess need for new or extended car parking, including investment in new car parks.

“It is forecast that the Authority can generate an additional car parking income of 500K per annum from 2026/27,” the report stated.

“Whilst car parking income comes with a degree of risk (due to several external variables, including visitor numbers, weather, economy etc), it is
considered that this could make a significant contribution (about 63%) to addressing the financial challenges that the Authority faces.

It also outlined, amongst strategies, a proposed reorganisation of its visitor centres, including Beddgelert and Pen Y Pass, to bring in an additional £40K.

The report stated: “In the short term (one-two years) it is considered there is some limited potential for increased income generation at the Authority’s information Centre in Betws-y-Coed and the ‘hwb’ at Pen-y-pass” – the latter potentially providing “the greater income uplift opportunity”.

“This increase could be achieved by reviewing internal structures and
layout, reviewing the items sold and targeting different markets, and potentially increasing the floor space at Pen-y-Pass,” it said.

However the “income generation opportunities” from Beddgelert and Aberdyfi centres were considered to be “limited”.

The meeting heard also that a “significant uplift” in the planning fee income in the next year, could contribute to the overall financial strategy.

The “positive state” of the pension fund, money from buildings and information centre upgrades, investment in a new commercial manager role and the chance of Welsh Government funds uplift could also help.

At the meeting, members agreed to recommendations to support principles forming part of the Authority’s Financial Strategy for 2026/27.

These were to:

• Agree to the principle of increasing car parking tariffs and greater
  enforcement to bring in an additional £500K per annum and to set a target of an additional £40K per annum from retail income
• Retain budgeted planning fees at present levels but to closely monitor the new fee schedule over the next 12 months and explore other potential commercial income sources, including recruiting a Commercial Manager over the next 12 months.
• Note the savings in its baseline budget of £130K due to the healthy state of the existing pension fund.
• Retain the Authority’s existing capital budgets as a key part of the Authority’s operation – but keep monitoring the situation
• Not delete vacant posts and not to pursue any compulsory redundancies but to continue to “monitor” both situations relating to the Welsh Government’s budgetary settlement.