Parking controls in parks reinstated to manage capacity

20 May 2020

With a hot Bank Holiday weekend looming and more people driving since rules were relaxed, West Suffolk Council is reintroducing parking controls to help manage its parks.

West Suffolk Council will be reinstating charges at Brandon Country Park, Nowton Park and West Stow Country Park from Friday.

Cllr John Griffiths, Leader of West Suffolk Council said: “We have kept our parks open throughout the coronavirus crisis for people to enjoy their daily exercise. The Government has now relaxed some of its guidance to enable people to go out and exercise or walk for longer, and to meet one person not from their household at the 2m social distance.

“We know that our parks are very popular at this time of year and to help manage capacity, the gathering of people and social distancing, we will be reintroducing the car parking charges at these parks ahead of the weekend.

“We have already seen an increase in people visiting our parks this past week and we hope these measures will help to ensure that they are enjoyed safely for all.

“We would also ask, where possible, that people enjoying a picnic, take their rubbish home with them, as we are continuing to manage services with reduced staff both as a result of people having to shield or self-isolate, while we have also redeployed staff to help maintain key services as well as providing the Home But Not Alone community support, and distributing grants to local businesses.”

There are no charges at West Suffolk Council town centre car parks for the time being.

The charges are:

Brandon Country Park

Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm – up to two hours £1, over two hours £2.

Weekends and Bank Holidays 8am to 8pm – up to two hours £1.50, over two hours £3.

Nowton Park

Monday to Sunday 9am to 8pm – Up to two hours £1, over two hours £2.

West Stow Country Park

Monday to Sunday 9am to 8pm – up to one hour £1, over 1 hour £2.

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