Leeds parks and green spaces parking to start at 40p an hour

Parking charges from 40p an hour are set to be introduced at some green spaces in Leeds later this year.

Golden Acre Park, Middleton Park, Kirkstall Abbey, Otley Chevin, Roundhay Park and Temple Newsam are among the sites where free parking is set to end.

The scheme would be rolled out gradually over the course of the year, a Leeds City Council officer said.

The cash-strapped authority revealed last month it planned to introduce fees at some locations to balance its books.

Money raised from the charges would help fund maintenance of the car parks themselves, the council said.

Visitors at 24 other public spaces around the city would also be charged for parking, as well as at venues where people park for relatively short periods of time.

The plans are likely to be signed off in February as part of the council's new budget, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At a scrutiny meeting on Thursday, senior council officer James Rogers said he recognised most people parked their vehicles for one or two hours a day, so the authority was proposing "modest charges".

"40p-an-hour is what we're currently proposing as part of the consultation process," he said.

"We might just need different arrangements where some of these car parks are used for maybe longer stay parking, where we're happy to encourage that."

The council said blue badge holders would be exempt from the charges, while season tickets could be introduced at parks for frequent visitors.

Charges would be enforced despite the authority admitting last month it was currently grappling with a shortage of parking wardens.

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