Parking charges to be introduced at Wolverhampton Central Baths
Parking charges are to be introduced at Wolverhampton's Central Baths, it was announced today.
Motorists are said to be 'abusing' the current free token barrier system at the leisure centre site which often fails to work in bad weather allowing people to leave their cars there all day.
Charges of between 50p and £3.50 will be introduced from September.
Council bosses say they have received complaints from people wanting to use the leisure centre but are unable to park on the 96-space site and as a result will introduce fees. Leisure centre visitors will be able to claim the money back.
Councillors on the Wolverhampton City Council's cabinet resource panel are to be asked to rubber stamp the proposals.
A report set to go before councillors states: "The current system used to control car parking at Central baths consists of a token operated barrier system. Tokens are issued from the reception to customers of the facility free of charge.
"Visitors often ask for a token to leave the car park when only making inquiries within the facility. In addition, customers can leave their car on the car park long after leaving the facility because the token may be used at any time to exit the car park.
"The current barrier system can also prove problematic, particularly in adverse weather conditions. On these occassions the barriers become inoperable, resulting in the car park becoming easily accessible for free parking.
"This can quickly result in the car park becoming full and leaving no free space for genuine customers of the facility to park on the centre's bespoke car park."
Parking tickets of up to £50 will be dished out to those who fail to pay to park.
The charges will cost 50p for an hour, £1 for two hours, £2 for three hours and £3.50 for up to four hours. The move could boost council coffers by up to £10,000 it has been estimated and the scheme will cost about £6,300 to set up.
