It's pay and dismay for drivers as car parking charges set to rise in Calderdale: Here's where all the prices could change

Most of the council’s parking spaces and car parks will see rises of some sort – in some cases fees could double – but there are some instances where prices could be reduced.

If the changes are approved the measures would boost the authority’s coffers by more than £470,000 a year.

Senior councillors will be asked to consider a raft of changes to parking charges in Calderdale when they meet next Monday.

They are also being asked to review which car parks might be surplus to requirements and if any could be sold off or be given an alternative use.

The briefing papers to Cabinet members acknowledge that parking charges are not popular and will need to be justified to the public.

Objectives include encouraging more walking, cycling and use of public transport while ensuring the less able, Blue Badge holders for example, have the spaces they need.

Another major aim is increasing turnover to ensure spaces are available in town centres for shoppers rather than commuters, who would be encouraged to use the long-stay car parks further out on town edges.

Money raised might be used to improve the quality of the car parks, including, with an eye on the near future, increased electric vehicle charging points, say the papers, as well as going into the pot for general highway maintenance.

In all, if Cabinet agrees to make the changes, there will be £64,000 capital costs involved but income from charges is expected to £441,000 annually plus another £30,000 from residents’ and visitors’ permits.

This would see net income of £156,000 for the first six months and the full £471,000 for the first full year, councillors are told.

The overall guiding principle is “the right parking, in the right place” and area reviews are under way in each of Calderdale’s six major townships, Halifax, Brighouse, Elland, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, to best inform future changes – each has different circumstances.

They are also considering implement changes to some charging and arrangements at Halifax (Lister Court and Union Street South); Sowerby Bridge (Station Road); Todmorden (Dale Street, Dalton Street and Oxford Street); Ripponden (Royd Lane); Mytholmroyd (Burnley Road), and Hebden Bridge (Holme Street) which were previously approved but not implemented.

Parking patterns changed through the pandemic, and although there is evidence car usage reverting to pre-pandemic levels occupancy of long-stay car parks remains low, say officers in their report.

The councillors are also given comparison figures for charging rates in neighbouring authorities including Kirklees, Bradford, Wakefield, Rochdale, Burnley, Skipton and Leeds.

New proposed changes – most refer to Monday to Saturday – include the following:

HALIFAX:

Halifax’s inner area one and two-hour bays charges will rise by 20p per half hour to £1, outer area four-hour bays by 20p to 80p per hour, and Causeway parking by 30p to 80p an hour with a maximum stay of four hours, charging hours extended to 8pm and the previous capped fee removed.

But users of Halifax’s long stay car parks would see charges remain at 50p per hour with a £3.50 cap from Monday to Friday – but would see a reduction on Saturday when rates would still be 50p per hour but a cap of £2.50.

At Skircoat, Halifax, four hour bay charges could rise by 10p to £1 an hour, with the area’s long stay parking rising 10p per hour to 60p, and the capped rate rise from £2.50 to £3.

Charges at North Bridge, High Street and Cross Hills car parks in the town centre will remain the same but the capped rate will reduce from £3.50 to £2.50.

At Mulcture Hall, Halifax, the £1 all day option on Saturdays would be scrapped but te hourly rate will be unchanged and the capped rate reduced from £3.50 to £2.50 across six days.

And at Hanover Street, Halifax, the capped rate will be reduced from £3.50 to £2.50 and a Saturday £1 all day rate will be introduced, but the King Street car park will see the capped rate removed and a standard charge of 50p per hour introduced.

Bull Green, Halifax, will see rates rise by 20p per hour to £1.20.

At Shibden Park changes will see a 50p for the first half hour rate and hourly charges double to £1 per hour and the capped option rising from £1.50 to £5.

No changes are proposed for St John’s Lane, Akroyd Place, Prescott Street, Union Street and Victoria Street, Halifax, where charges will remain as they are.

HEBDEN BRIDGE:

Hebden Bridge would lose the current free for 30 minutes use of the town’s one-hour bays, with a 20p charge for a first half hour introduced, and after that rates doubling to 40p per hour.

Long stay premium space pay and display bays in Hebden Bridge will be charged at 90p per hour, Monday to Sundays, including Bank Holidays, while pay and display bays at Hangingroyd Lane, Valley Road, Regent Street, Old Gate and the Buttress will be removed as spaces will be affected by the town’s forthcoming flood alleviation scheme.

Hebden Bridge car parks which are free at the moment – at Central Street, Salem Street and Hilton Street, which do have some current limits – will see one hour pay and display bays shared with resident permit holders and a charge of 20p for half an hour and then 40p per hour introduced, if the proposals are backed.

Keighley Road will see a 90p per hour charge introduced, all 8am to 8pm, and some thought given to whether allowing parking there at all can be continued.

Four-hour limit pay and display car parks at St Pol and St George’s Square, Hebden Bridge, will see rates rise by 20p per hour to £1, and the cost of long stay places at Market Place, New Road and Garden Street, Hebden Bridge, will rise by 10p an hour to 80p.

BRIGHOUSE:

One-hour commercial bays at Commercial Street; Market Street; Bradford Road; Gooder Street, Park Street; Bethel Street; Briggate and King Street in Brighouse town centre would see the 20p per hour rate double, changing to a 20p option for half an hour then a 40p rate for each full hour.

In terms of Brighouse’s main car parks, it is proposed the rate will rise by 20p an hour to 90p at Bethel Street, by 10p an hour to 70p at Daisy Street and Owler Ings, although the 70p hourly rate at Parsonage Lane and Commercial Street would not change.

At Mill Lane and Bank Street, Brighouse, the first hour free would be scrapped and the hourly rate rise by 10p to 50p, and the capping rate rise from £2 to £3.50, and at Church Lane the first hour free will remain but the hourly charge rise by 10p to 50p per hour, and the capped rate from £2 to £3, if proposals are adopted.

HIPPERHOLME:

At Wakefield Road, Hipperholme, changes would see a four hour maximum stay introduced and a rate of 30p for the first half hour followed by a 60p hourly rate (an increase of 20p) and the £2 capping option removed.

TODMORDEN:

Rates for Bramsche Square and School Lane car parks at Todmorden will rise by 30p to 90p per hour, and those at the town’s Lever Street, Union Street and Halifax Road car parks by 10p to 70p per hour.

Charges will also be introduced at Todmorden’s Station Approach parking bays for the first time, with 50p per hour proposed, 8am to 6pm.

ELLAND:

At Elland, charging will be introduced at Crown Street, at 40p per hour, capped at £2.40 (8am to 6pm), while at Southgate charging will go up by 10p to 50p per hour and the £2.40 cap removed.

The free first hour will be removed at Coronation Street and Boxhall Road, Elland, but the 50p per hour rate will otherwise stay the same, and no changes are proposed to rates at Brook Street.

SOWERBY BRIDGE:

At Sowerby Bridge, Tuel Lane rates would alter from the current 50p per hour, to 30p for the first half hour but then a 60p per hour rate, while at Stanley Street and West Street car parks, the hourly rate could rise by 10p per hour to 50p and the capped rate from £2.40 to £3.

CALDERDALE-WIDE RESIDENTS’ PERMITS:

The £25 rate for residents’ permits would also change, with £30 charged for a first permit, £60 for a second permit and £90 for a third permit.

The Cabinet meeting, where parking charges will be discussed, will be held at Halifax Town Hall on Monday June 12, starting at 3pm.