Proposed car park charges for Eaton Park have been revealed

The Labour-led city council identified the introduction of charges at Eaton Park as a way to raise £50,000 and help fill its £6.2m budgetary blackhole.

The measures were first unveilled last year and have now moved significantly closer to being brought in.

Charges proposed by the city council are £2 for up to four hours, £5 for four hours and £6 for six hours. All stays over six hours will be £8.  

The authority has opened a consultation on the plans and is asking for the public to have their say.

The proposal has been controversial, with a poll run on this newspaper's website showing more than 80pc of people said they did not want to see parking charges introduced. 

James Wright, leader of the Liberal Democrats at City Hall, said: “While the council has to start somewhere, it was looking at Eaton Park and Waterloo. They seem to be just starting with Eaton now. 

“My main concern is what it has always been, which is people that don’t want to pay to park will go to the surrounding streets, like South Park Avenue, causing issues for residents. 

“I would say to anyone who is a park user or a resident to take part in the consultation and have your say.” 

Councillor Adam Giles, cabinet member responsible for parks and open spaces, said the council needed to make “extremely difficult decisions” given the financial pressure it is under. 

“We can no longer rely on the government to provide sufficient funding,” Mr Giles said. 

“This leaves us no choice but to factor in income generation as part of our approach to balancing our budget – to generate enough money to deliver our vital services.” 

The council wants people closer to parks to use sustainable transport where possible while fees from people who have to park will help protect services. 

The consultation runs until December 20.

More details can be found on the council's website.