WYCHAVON District Council coined in £2million from parking charges in the last financial year as revenue from the district’s car parks increased for the second year in a row.
A total of £2,075,000 was collected by the area’s parking chiefs last year, an increase of £326,000 compared to the previous year.
The sum is the highest collected by the car parks since £1.8million was spent in the city’s car parks in 2013/14 and has topped £2million for the first time in five years.
Wychavon was just behind Worcester of the local authorities in the county for income from parking charges and 101st in the list of 353 English councils.
The league tables are published in a new report by the motorists’ charity the RAC Foundation which reveals a record £819million was raked in by the 353 local authorities in England.
According to the figures, the sum is 10 per cent higher than the £744million made in the previous financial year and 40 per cent higher than the £587 million made in 2012-13.
The figures are calculated by taking income from parking charges and penalty notices minus running costs and were sourced from the annual returns councils make to the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The upward path in profits is in part a reflection of the record number of cars and volume of traffic.
“The silver lining for drivers is that these surpluses must almost exclusively be ploughed back into transport and as any motorist will tell you there is no shortage of work to be done.
“We urge motorists to take the time to read their own local authority’s parking report so they can see both the rationale for charges in their area and how the surplus is being spent.”
In response, Vic Allison, head of resources for Wychavon District Council, said: “In terms of our town centre pay and display car parks, we do make a surplus of £2million a year and this goes to support the overall council budget.
“This includes management of our parks and town centre cleaning and helps ensure our council tax bills remain amongst the lowest in the country
“Our parking charges compare favourably with other councils and we have committed to no increases in parking charges for the life of the current council.”
* What do you think? E-mail [email protected] with your views
