Free parking offer to continue in York

The one hour of free car parking in many of York’s car parks is to continue during September. Other changes have been made which will also see a cheaper “Minster Badge” introduced.

Castle car park

It was another “behind closed doors decision” with the following changes agreed

  • Extend the 1 hour free parking initiative which has been in place for August to the end of September and increase the marketing and promotion to drive up the take up of the offer.
  • In October to launch a new Minster Badge offer which would be valid until the 31st March 2021 for the cost of £2, the equivalent of one evenings charge. Minster Badges provide free evening parking and a discount to residents who purchase one.
  • To standardise the time evening parking charges commence in off street car parks where evening charge is applicable to 5pm for Minster Badge Holders seven days a week until the end of March.
  • To reduce the coach parking tariff to a flat rate of £6.70 per hour (similar to the current hour charge.

Changes to the parking machines will cost £10,000

The Council has not revealed how many motorists took advantage of the discounted parking rates offered in July and August. It does say that car park use has increased back to traditional levels quicker than was anticipated.

It has not released, for general use, the spaces at Marygate and Monk Bar car parks which were taken out of service a couple of months ago.

An extension of the taxi service to and from Monk Bar car park for blue badge holders until the end of September has been agreed. No details of the level of use of this service have been revealed by the council.

NB. At the end of the Summer Holidays the temporary toilet provision that was installed on Parliament Street will be removed.

Crack down on the abuse of blue badges in York

City of York Council is stepping up efforts to crack-down on people in York who fraudulently use disabled blue badges.

Civil enforcement officers and Veritau – the company that investigates fraud on behalf of the council – are working jointly to proactively spot and tackle badge misuse in the city.

A two-week amnesty is being offered for holders to return invalid badges without question, or fear of legal action being taken.

It will begin on Monday 17 July and end on Friday 28 July.  A collection box has been left at the customer services reception desk at West Offices.

Once the amnesty is over, a series of proactive ‘enforcement patrols’ are being planned across York in the coming months.

A blue badge should be handed back if:

  •   It has expired
  • The badge holder is no longer eligible to use one
  • It is a replacement for a badge lost or stolen and the original has since been found
  • The badge is so damaged or faded that the details are not clear
  • The badge holder has died

The blue badge scheme is for people with severe mobility problems.

Misuse impacts on the limited capacity of parking available for legitimate disabled users who have little or no choice about how they get about.

It is a problem across the UK and is thought to cost the country £46 million a year.  Someone found misusing a blue badge faces prosecution and a £1,000 fine.

In York, the council has taken people to court for illegally using badges.

In one case a woman was caught using her child’s badge to park when the child wasn’t in the vehicle with her.  Another case involved a man who used his dead uncle’s badge, which had expired, to park for free.  The expiry date was obscured by a pair of sunglasses.
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