A councillor has told Filey’s MP that the town has the ‘dearest’ parking charges in the county which could be negatively affecting the local economy.
Independent councillor Sam Cross has raised concerns about the high cost of parking and the lack of public toilets putting off potential visitors.
Speaking at a recent meeting of the Thirsk and Malton Area Committee, he said:
“Not only is there expensive car parking in Scarborough, but we have expensive parking in Filey, probably the dearest in all of North Yorkshire.”
He added:
“And sadly, when people come there, there are no free public toilets, and that’s after they’ve paid the extortionate amount that we charge [for parking], and North Yorkshire Council makes hundreds of thousands from the parking in Filey.
“Toilets aren’t free, and for the number of people that visit Filey, there is a lack of toilets. It’s a big problem.”
Coun Cross raised the issue with Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton, who represents Filey and attended the committee meeting.
Mr Hollinrake said that the local economies of towns and villages should be “put first” to help support local traders.
The Conservative Member of Parliament commented:
“So the more we encourage people to visit our towns and villages, whether with free parking or public toilets, which is bound to be a deterrent for people visiting if they can’t access public toilets, particularly if they have health needs.”
He added that a consistent approach was desirable across the county when it came to charges for toilets and parking, but noted the difficulties faced by North Yorkshire Council.
The issue was highlighted by Coun Gareth Dadd, the council’s executive member for finance, who reminded the committee:
“This council has inherited seven different schemes for operating all services from district and borough councils.
“It’d be easy to say ‘equity across the place’ – well, if we want equity with car parking charges, for example, are we to charge right across the county the high charges in Scarborough?
“You’ve got to be very careful, and I think this review and subsequent decisions will reflect local circumstances as well.
“I also concur with Kevin Hollinrake. If anyone thinks that anything is free, whether home to school transport, public conveniences, or car parking, it ain’t.
“We’re looking down the barrel of a financial gun; we can’t run away from that, and savings have to be made, no matter how unpopular it is.”
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