Rural West Councillors call for action on Poppleton Car Park Charges

Liberal Democrat Councillors for the Rural West ward are calling for Northern Rail to take action on the new car park charges at Poppleton Station.

In order to pay to park, customers have to use an app or try to pay via a lengthy telephone call. There is no option to pay by cash or contactless card. This has meant many potential users of the car park have been excluded and are instead parking on Station Road, causing serious congestion and making it difficult for residents to leave their driveways.

Councillor Anne Hook, Rural West ward said:

“We invited Northern Rail to meet their neighbours at our ward meeting on Monday, but they would not send a representative.

“Northern Rail should listen to their neighbours in Station Road and stop behaving in what is a most anti-social way in the community in which they operate.”

“Given the number of parking spaces and the daily charge, we cannot see that the revenue generated by the car park can in anyway justify the unneighbourly behaviour of Northern Rail.

“The issue is that the means of payment – requiring a difficult to use app or a long phone call – mean that most train users opt to park on the street because the alternative is to miss their train.

“Liberal Democrats are therefore asking that the Council does it’s best to lobby for Northern Rail to either remove their parking charges or introduce a simpler, faster way to pay them, bearing in mind the age of many residents and the often-poor internet signal in the village.

“We are also asking the Councilvand First to open the Poppleton Bar Park & Ride for much longer and encourage people using Poppleton Railway Station to park there instead of within the villages of Poppleton.