VISITORS to Lydiard Park and Coate Water will have to pay for parking from July, council leaders have confirmed.

A consultation was launched earlier this year into whether parking charges could be used as a way to raise additional funds to go towards the upkeep of the parks.

Now it has been revealed that the charges will come into effect from the beginning of July for a trial period lasting five months.

The cabinet member responsible for the parks, Coun Garry Perkins (Con, Haydon Wick), said: “Having widely discussed the issue with the users I would say that probably 50 per cent, at Lydiard particularly, understand the need to bring in parking charges and believe that a small parking charge would be advantageous to the future of the park.

“The situation is similar at Coate Water as well.

“There are obviously a similar number of people who don’t want to pay and that is understandable given that there hasn’t been a charge for some years.”

The proposed system will have two tiers, one for casual users and another for more frequent visitors.

At Lydiard Park, a couple of hours parking will cost £2 and whole day just £4.

Coate Water will be slightly cheaper with a couple of hours costing £1 and a day costing £2.

Annual season tickets will be priced at £45 and £35 for Lydiard Park and Coate Water respectively.

Coun Perkins added: “Anyone using the parks regularly will get a significant discount from the daily rate.

“These proposals will be introduced at the end of June because it will take that time to get the equipment up and running.

“For the first week or two there might be a couple of objections and some people parking where they shouldn’t but I think once people see the cost is so little that most residents and car park users will accept the charge.

“From the two sites it should give us an income of about £400,000 a year and all that money will be put back into the parks.”

During the public consultation on the charges, concerns were raised by residents in areas neighbouring the parks about rogue parking in their streets by drivers trying to get out of paying.

In an effort to allay these fears, the council have promised to provide a dedicated hotline for concerned residents to report any issues they experience.

Following the five month trial a report will be compiled to allow for a permanent decision to be taken.

The end of the trial is expected to coincide with the handover of Lydiard Park to new management but it is understood that all interested parties have indicated that they intend to continue with parking charges moving forward.