The latest on shopping, restaurant news and more Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Car parking charges are to be introduced at one of Birmingham’s flagship parks for the first time.

The move means that visitors going to three major attractions in the city will all have to pay.

Charges will start at 7am - an hour earlier than the city centre - and apply until 11.30pm, four hours after the streets become free in town.

Motorists will also be charged to park on Bank Holidays and Christmas Day too, unlike the city centre when parking is free.

Parking meters have been installed in the car parks next to Cannon Hill Park, MAC Birmingham and the Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park (formerly the Nature Centre) ready to become active on Friday, October 6 - not Monday, October 2 as originally advised.

Information posters have been tied to trees to inform visitors of the development.

(Image: Graham Young)

The parking charges will be reviewed after six months and then annually.

The council is forecasting a 20 per cent reduction in car park usage because of the fees.

Deborah Kermode, mac Birmingham’s chief executive and artistic director, said the charges had become ‘inevitable’.

(Image: Graham Young)

Opened in 1962, the mac is the UK's 11th most visited free attraction with a mission statement "to make art an important part of people's lives."

In a letter for mac customers, Deborah said: “Of course we are concerned that mac’s attendances may suffer, particularly for those under financial constraints.

“We are constantly looking at ways of being more sustainable yet remaining competitively priced to ensure we fulfil our ethos of ‘arts for all’.”

Regular MAC user Norman Hughes, a retired teacher, said the charging plans were "dreadful."

(Image: Graham Young)

And mum Emma Geary, who has a baby daughter Ava-Grace, said the charges would "make me think twice about coming here."

Cannon Hill Park was gifted to the city in 1873 by benefactor Louisa Ryland.

Louisa said: “Through the bounty of God I have the great pleasure of giving Cannon Hill Park to the Corporation of Birmingham for the use of the inhabitants and neighbours.

(Image: Graham Young)

“I would express my earnest hope that the Park may prove to be a source of healthful recreation to the people of Birmingham, and that they will aid in the protection and preservation of what is now their own property.”

But whether you now enter off Russell Road, Pershore Road or Egbaston Road, motorists will soon have to pay to stay.

How much will it cost to park?

(Image: Graham Young)

The initial charges are being set at £2 for the first four hours and £3 for the day up to 16.5 hours.

Buses and coaches will pay £15.

Charges will be introduced on Friday, October 6 and apply all day every day from 7am to 11.30pm.

Motorists will also have to pay to park on Bank Holidays.

(Image: Graham Young)

In the city centre, charges apply daily from 8am to 6pm, with a lower rate from 6pm until 7.30pm.

City centre street parking is usually free on on Bank Holidays and Christmas Day.

In the Jewellery Quarter, street parking is charged from 8am til 6pm but is free on Sundays, Bank Holidays and Christmas Day.

(Image: Graham Young)

A family wanting to visit Cannon Hill Park in a car on a weekly basis would pay more than £100 per year.

Blue badge spaces are set to be retained.

How much is the scheme costing – and how much will it raise?

(Image: Graham Young)

The £450,000 capital investment has been funded by ‘prudent borrowing’.

It is part of an overall 'strategy' to introduce charges across other city council parks, subject to consultations if they were to be introduced anywhere else.

A city council public report dated April 28, 2017 forecast 'a 20 per cent reduction in usage' of the Cannon Hill Park car park, even though it was part of a 'Commercialism approach'.

It added that the 'introduction of the parking scheme will continue to support the council’s longer term principles to promote and support green transport options and reduce car use across the city.'

The first full year of the scheme was forecast to generate a total net surplus of £160,000 prior to borrowing costs and distributions, with mac Birmingham receiving 'a 50 per cent share of the operating surplus (before capital financing costs)'.

(Image: Graham Young)

The report said the car parking charges would fund safety improvements including lighting and CCTV and that mac Birmingham would help to manage the car park.

The city council’s 2017/18 budget saw a reduction to the parks budget of ten per cent.

Motorists in Birmingham have been hit by a wave of parking price increases since April 1, 2017.

The introduction of car parking charges at Cannon Hill Park follows huge rises in the cost of parking in central Birmingham, with the Sunday rate now £6 for two hours in line with weekday prices.

And the Bullring introduced a minimum fee of £5.50, even if you only stay half an hour.

At the end of August it was revealed the city council was set to install another 20 new bus lane cameras - with £60 fines.

Why is the scheme going ahead when the park was gifted to the people of the city?

(Image: Graham Young)

The city council report said 'doing nothing would... miss the opportunity to generate revenue to fund improvement to infrastructure and health and safety works in the car park and would impact on the ongoing development of a sustainable partnership with the MAC.'

It also wanted to target people who took advantage of free parking.

The report added: 'Introduction of this proposed scheme will also provide a means of control on existing commuter parking, where it is felt that currently the car park is used as hospital car parking or a ‘free park and ride’ by some users and will assist in managing this situation, or at least gaining appropriate recompense from those persons parking for that purpose.'

What does mac Birmingham say?

(Image: Graham Young)

Mac Birmingham's chief executive and artistic director Deborah Kermode penned a letter to customers.

She said: “We have had to acknowledge that we and the council are operating in a very different economic environment and parking charge are now inevitable.

“Naturally we wanted to explore exemption for our patrons but that was not possible with the pressure on the local authority.

(Image: Graham Young)

“We have been working very closely with the council to ensure charges would not be set at the high level levied across the city centre, and we are pleased that our efforts have been successful.

“Much of the income from parking fees will be reinvested in the infrastructure of the car park to make it better and safer for users.

“We are grateful that mac and the park service will receive a proportion of the council’s income from the car park, but it will in no way compensate for the 70 per cent reduction in annual funding we’ve already received from them this year.

(Image: Graham Young)

“Therefore, regrettably we are not in a position to recompense our visitors.”

Figures recently released by Visit England show mac Birmingham had 1.13 million visitors in 2016, up almost 10 per cent on 2015, making it the only West Midlands' attraction in the UK top 20 of free places to visit.

After its funding was cut by 70 per cent in April, mac launched a campaign called If You Love Us, Help Us, Use Us.

What happens elsewhere?

(Image: Graham Young)

A car park at Tudor Grange in Solihull operates its timebands on a similar principle to that planned for Cannon Hill Park.

The difference is that the Solihull park has ‘free and display’ tickets valid for the first three hours.

You can pay to stay longer.

What visitors to Cannon Hill Park said

(Image: Graham Young)

Retired teacher Norman Hughes said: “I am very much against (the charges), in principle and in practice.

“This is a public space enjoyed by families.

“A whole range of people who come to use the MAC pay for that privilege. For some reason the council now decides they want to charge.

“It won’t raise a huge amount of money, but it will frustrate and annoy a lot of people who come here. It’s dreadful.”

(Image: Graham Young)

Emma Geary had brought baby Ava-Grace to meet friends including Nichola Bent.

A regular visitor from Stourbridge, Emma said: “It costs enough to get here and then you can easily spend £20 – I have two step children, too.

“It would make me think twice about coming – they don’t even have any parent-with-baby spaces so people can park too close to you.

“You think going to the park is a free day out, but it’s not.”

(Image: Graham Young)

Convertible driver Karol Doveston had brought some younger friends to enjoy an ice cream.

She said: “If they need to raise money for the arts centre, that’s fine.

“If it doesn’t do that then it’s outrageous.

“It will prevent a lot of people who come here for a free day out from enjoying a local amenity.”

(Image: Graham Young)

Ben Wright had driven over from Harborne, but said: “I think it’s a very good idea as I am all for less car usage.”

Caroline, a regular MAC Birmingham user from Edgbaston said the charge was “quite a hit for parents and community groups... and the MAC wants us to visit often because they have lost funding.”

Damien Hornett, who had enjoyed a family day out with his young daughter from Great Barr, said: “We probably come over half a dozen times a year and paying £2 to park would deter us from coming.

“This is not the way for the council to solve its financial problems and even if I worked for the council I would probably say the same thing.”

(Image: Graham Young)

Flower seller Antony Walpole said: "A £2 fee sounds excessive. They need to charge a nominal 50p which would cover the cost of maintaining the car park.

"I think it will affect certain families - £2, if they are coming once a week, is quite a lot."

Retired special needs teacher Hazel Hughes said: “This charge is just another knock for people who can’t afford it.

“I already never go into Birmingham because of the cost of parking.”

(Image: Graham Young)

Victoria Tranter, who recently moved from hometown Birmingham to Walsall, said: “I don’t think it’s a good thing unless they are going to spend the money in the park which is looking a bit tatty.

“You can’t expect everything for free, but the fountain looks terrible now.

“They have more pride in their parks in Solihull.”