Lickey Hills Country Park - informal consultation on proposed parking charges

Closed 4 Dec 2022

Opened 7 Nov 2022

Contact

Street Scene & Parks

07500882961

lickeyhillsconsultation@birmingham.gov.uk

Feedback updated 10 May 2023

We asked

  1. We asked if park visitors, nearby residents and stakeholders were in support of the proposed parking charges at Lickey Hills Country Park.
  2. We asked residents, park visitors and stakeholders for their investment suggestions for Lickey Hills Country Park.

You said

  1. The majority (419 of 670) respondents to the informal consultation were not in favour of the proposed parking charges (62.5% against).

  2. A number of investment suggestions were received ranging from improvements to pathways and health and safety improvements, to building/asset investment and improvements to facilities.

We did

  1. The decision has been made to discontinue the proposed parking charges programme in parks in light of the feedback received and the fact that the state of the market/economy has changed since the proposal was first introduced in 2017. Hence the proposed parking charges at Lickey Hills Country Park are no longer proceeding.

  2. The investment suggestions received have been presented to the Cabinet Member for Environment. However, without the funding coming from the now halted car parking income it will be a challenge to raise the funding required for these suggestions but recognising the huge value that parks provide a project has been set up to explore alternative funding sources.

Results updated 16 Feb 2024

Please see 'We Asked, You Said, We Did' section for result details.

Overview

Birmingham City Council is facing an increasingly challenging budget position. As part of the City Council budget for 2022/23, Street Scene & Parks has been asked to make a significant contribution to the saving. To mitigate the impact of potential reductions in grounds maintenance of parks and open spaces we are looking at opportunities to generate income. The income from the proposed parking charges will be ringfenced and reinvested into the park for the maintenance of the car park/s, additional security and general park improvements, thereby protecting existing services.

As part of this informal consultation we will be seeking views on:

  • The proposed parking charges
  • Proposed pricing structure
  • Proposed parking times
  • Our commitment to ringfence income and reinvest into the park
  • Traffic management surveys pre- and post-implementation of the proposed charges, to establish the extent of displacement parking as a result of the implementation and to provide an evidence base for traffic restrictions (where applicable)
  • Traffic restrictions to be introduced post-implementation.

A consultation pack has been prepared and is available to download (see link at bottom of page, under "Related Documents")

Why your views matter

The implementation of the charging scheme will be contingent on the outcome of this consultation and approval of the individual Full Business Case for the scheme. Hence, it is important to gather the views of park visitors, residents and stakeholders to determine the next steps in the decision-making process.

What happens next

The results of this 4-week informal consultation will be included in the Full Business Case for the Lickey Hills Country Park scheme. The implementation of the charging scheme will be contingent on the outcome of this consultation and approval of the individual Full Business Case for the scheme. This approval will then trigger the legislative process and a formal 4-week consultation on the proposed parking charges (dates TBC)).  

Events

  • Consultation session 1 (virtual)

    From 15 Nov 2022 at 12:00 to 15 Nov 2022 at 13:30

    An online meeting (Microsoft Teams) where details of the proposals will be covered and views sought (link is available below under "Related Links").

    Add to my Calendar (.ics)

  • Consultation session 2 (drop-in)

    From 24 Nov 2022 at 19:00 to 24 Nov 2022 at 20:30

    A face-to-face meeting where details of the proposals will be covered and views sought.

    Venue - Visitor Centre, Lickey Hills Country Park, B45 8ER

    Add to my Calendar (.ics)

Areas

  • All Areas

Audiences

  • Anyone from any background

Interests

  • parks