Hull Arena staff 'to pay £45 a month to park outside venue'
STAFF at Hull Arena have told of their anger at plans to bill them £45 a month to park their car outside the venue.
Standard short-stay tariffs were introduced at the council-owned centre on Kingston Park in the city centre last month, in a bid to stop commuters taking up spaces meant for customers.
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A parking meter at Hull Ice Arena
Signs make clear anyone using the facility is able to reclaim the parking charge, which ranges from £1 per hour to £12 for a full day’s parking.
However, the Mail understands there are now plans to begin charging staff to park their cars.
One unnamed worker said: “It is outrageous, as many of these people are part-time and this is a big cut out of their wages.”
The worker accused the council of introducing charges as a means of gathering revenue.
He said: “Hull City Council had no sound reason to implement these parking charges.
“Abuse of the arena car park, when it was free, was limited to the odd car here and there.
“It did not stop legitimate customers from parking.”
The source claimed parents will be put off taking their children to sporting events held at the arena.
He said: “Junior sporting events are expensive for those taking part and they will be even worse due to the parking charges some of the parents will have to pay over a three or five-day event.
“It seems to me that Hull City Council is trying to kill off Hull Arena and these parking charges are another nail in the coffin.”
The worker said many commuters are choosing to park on the sides of roads to avoid charges.
“People are now parking in the side streets instead of parking in the arena,” he said. “It is, of course, leading to an increase in congestion.”
Hull City Council defended its decision to begin charging.
A spokesman for the local authority said: “The parking fees have been introduced because commuters were regularly using the car park for free parking.
“It was felt that spaces should be for use by those taking part in activities at the Arena, which is why the appropriate parking charges are refundable or dealt with through a variety of parking permits.
“With larger bespoke events, each one is planned for individually when it comes to parking.”
The spokesman claimed there had been “relatively few problems” since the charges were introduced.
However, she said the policy would be carefully monitored.
36 Comments
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by curly61168
Sunday, February 12 2012, 12:38AM
“GarethC2010 you work in the town centre so catch a bus and stop moaning Oh and the moron saying hri staff pay £50 a month well it is actually £120 a year which i think if the hull arena staff had to pay that they wouldnt grumble. AND the hull arena is not on a bus route WOULD YOU WALK PAST WILLIAM BOOTH HOSTEL OR THE CEMETERY AT 11 12 0CLOCK AT NIGHT !!!!!!!!!!!!!”
by Defarge
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 12:51PM
“Hull Arena staff 'to pay £45 a month to park outside venue'
Simple.
Don'!”
by David_Nivea
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 12:38PM
“People [except MP's etc] don't get their travelling-to-work bus or train fares refunded - what's the difference?
Who forces them to go in a car?
Motorists, eh?”
by PURPLESPIDER
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 9:13AM
“GarethC2010 is this true? It is bad that patients have to pay this fee and it costs a fortune when a family member is ill for a long time let alone staff having the curtesy of a fee for keeping people alive thats discusting. So where does this money go because there is nothing in Hull to show for these fees????”
by crossplot
Tuesday, February 07 2012, 11:33PM
“Welcome to what I had to put up with for years.. Having had essential user allowance and then having it taken away, I had to pay this £50 for long enough..You won't win!”
by PURPLESPIDER
Tuesday, February 07 2012, 11:10PM
“Hull City Council are in massive debt with nothing good to show for it and this is a money grabbing scheme. Just like the Government- running down the city and making the workers unemployed because they cannot efford to work welldone HCC for brains yet again.
Oh and by the way the taxpayers Pay the council to manage the city - They OWN nothing.”
by tosh1958
Monday, February 06 2012, 10:51PM
“This is purley about making money, if it was not the staff would not be charged for parking as the system is supposed to be in place to stop non arena users using the car park.”
by Mandoona
Monday, February 06 2012, 9:02PM
“Unfortunately, it wouldn't be feasible for a large employer such as HRI to provide parking for their staff. Hull Arena, on the other hand, have a massive car park and probably a lot less staff:spaces ratio to HRI. It wouldn't affect their business to reserve a small area of the car park for staff.
This seems really greedy to me, and if, as it says in the article, it is to stop commuters parking there, then why should that automatically mean that employees of Hull Arena suddenly have to start paying?? It just doesn't make sense.
Also, I used to live about 150 yards from the Arena and that area is NOT a safe area to be walking/cycling home from late at night.”
by GarethC2010
Monday, February 06 2012, 6:54PM
“Prevs & tosh1958....HRI staff do not get passes free, they pay nearly £50 per month.”
by tosh1958
Sunday, February 05 2012, 5:50PM
“http://tinyurl.com/6wqoe6x
I wonder how much it is going to cost the people competing in this event to park over the week while playing in this event.”