Loch Lomond Car parks.

[Soldier of fortune]

I see that Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park authorities are installing ANPR cameras and charging for parking in the following car parks, Inveruglas, Millarochy, Tarbet with the authority keeping a percentage and the ANPR company getting the rest as well as any money from overstaying your time.

[NickyRannoch]

Of course any tickets for overstaying your time can be safely filed in the bin.

[Sunset tripper]

It's a disease spreading from the south. Fueled by greed which is becoming widespread up here also. What next clamping gangs?

[NickyRannoch]

TBF I have changed my mind on chargeable car parks in the last few years.

Car parks cost money to maintain and the ones mentioned seem to be very heavily used. I have no idea what any NPs balance sheet looks like but my guess wwould be state funding will be down in recent years and will continue in that direction for many more.

Subcontracting that to a company that provide ANPR should ,in theory, mean more money going into maintenance as enforcement costs are much less.

My main objection is the bullying, morally and legally questionable tactics these companies use to try to enforce PCNs.

Public bodies shouldn't be having anything to do with them.

[cha1888]

Am I correct that it now costs £4 a day for parking at Inveruglas?
That being the main start for Ben Vane and Ben Vorlich means just about all the Arrochar alps will cost for parking except Ben Ime on the Butterbridge side for the moment.

[Mal Grey]

I don't mind paying for a car park if its been created on somebody's land, and the charge is reasonable. For me, that is perhaps £2-4 for a day. What I resent, is £8, parking machines that only have one amount (e.g. many of the NT ones in the Lake District which charge something like that value even if you're only staying for a couple of hours). I also regularly get annoyed with having to find change for car parks, but at least many now take cards.

If the car park is just a gravel patch on the land of some big national body, rather than private ground, I still believe they should be free. I do understand how funding is getting harder for the NPs, but it has to be reasonable and to my mind the whole profit must go back to the NP, not some third-party business.

Down here, there are many little car parks on the edge of heathlands and woods which are free, encouraging people to go for short walks and get a little exercise. There is currently a motion for Surrey CC & Surrey Wildlife Trust to start charging in these places, which would simply push people to other areas to park badly along little narrow lanes.

[Fairweather Softie]

Of course any tickets for overstaying your time can be safely filed in the bin.

Some recent cases in Scotland suggest the bin option might not be the obvious choice now, having said that I have used the bin on more than one occasion.

Seem to recall this year a driver in Dundee I think ended up in court and lost case for private parking tickets, saying that I think the overall value was the thing that made it end up in court. Not sure if someone would be pursued for a one off ticket.

I'm ok with a few quid to park as long as the carparks are maintained and have the option to pay by card or online, had to borrow/beg a pound last year to pay for parking after being surprised by parking meter! I did give the lovely lady who gave me the pound a mars bar in exchange.

[BobMcBob]

Sadly, National Parks are suffering a funding problem and they have to look elsewhere. I've no problem with paying for parking when I know the money will go directly to the national park. I don't understand the attitude of people who want something for nothing. The National park authority do a lot of work that you benefit from, you think they should do that for free? There's a donations box at the Coire Dubh car park in Torridon that I always put £2 in when I park there.

I do object, as Mal says, to "£8 per day or part day", but even that does achieve something - it stops people popping down for an hour, dumping their McDonald's wrappers and leaving.

[rabthecairnterrier]

Of course any tickets for overstaying your time can be safely filed in the bin.

Some recent cases in Scotland suggest the bin option might not be the obvious choice now, having said that I have used the bin on more than one occasion.

Seem to recall this year a driver in Dundee I think ended up in court and lost case for private parking tickets, saying that I think the overall value was the thing that made it end up in court. Not sure if someone would be pursued for a one off ticket.

I'm ok with a few quid to park as long as the carparks are maintained and have the option to pay by card or online, had to borrow/beg a pound last year to pay for parking after being surprised by parking meter! I did give the lovely lady who gave me the pound a mars bar in exchange.

Fom Citizen's Advice, Scotland:-
"If you are the registered keeper, you may be sent a ticket. If you didn’t park the car at the time the ticket was issued and you don’t say who the driver was, there is no law in Scotland that makes you, as the registered keeper, automatically liable for the ticket. You do not have to identify who the person that parked the car was."

[Sunset tripper]

I don't understand the attitude of people who want something for nothing. The National park authority do a lot of work that you benefit from, you think they should do that for free? There's a donations box at the Coire Dubh car park in Torridon that I always put £2 in when I park there.

I do object, as Mal says, to "£8 per day or part day", but even that does achieve something - it stops people popping down for an hour, dumping their McDonald's wrappers and leaving.

I think it is a mindset, some folk are willing to offer car parking spaces for nothing especially in the highlands. Others are blatantly profiteering ie £8 a day may keep the McDonald wrappers at bay but it also stops someone stopping for 15 minutes to take a few photos. I believe the Lakes binned the parking company that made £100,000s profit - money for nothing basically. Even now if you are visiting the lake district for a couple of weeks and wish to stop at many of the lake side parking areas you probably need to budget in well over £100 for parking fees. I checked their website and you can buy a years pass for £400. I take it they think this is a bargain.

What if you have no car? Should you be charged for walking in Scotlands mountains? What about wild camping. Should you have to buy a camping permit say £5 a night or maybe £10 a night? Or is it ok to expect that without having to pay?

In Wales they make you pay at a gate or turnstile to go on a walk to some local beauty spots. In many parts of the lakes they have high parking charges for short stays.
Do we really want the highlands to become like that?

Some would say we pay our taxes anyway, that means a lot of the time parking isn't something for nothing.

[BobMcBob]

Some would say we pay our taxes anyway, that means a lot of the time parking isn't something for nothing.

And yet those same people complain when taxes go up to pay for essential services. Parkng is not an essential service and yet people behave like they have a right to park wherever they like. I see parking charges as a tax on those who directly benefit from the aervice the taxes pay for, and that's fair.

[Scottk]

Loch Muick parking is now £4 per day but I don't mind that as there are toilets available and a lot of work on paths. You can also buy a season ticket for £15. Linn of Dee is similar and free if you are a member of the NTS. Both of these car parks depend on honesty and you can pay online afterwards if you want. I haven't heard of anyone getting chased for payment.
It would be best if the NP could manage the car parks themselves without getting outside contractors in. I'm sure one of the car parks already has this in place at Loch Lomond-it's the one with the toilet block near the youth hostel. It may also be a ferry stop.

[Sunset tripper]

I see parking charges as a tax on those who directly benefit from the aervice the taxes pay for, and that's fair.

Going along with that line of thinking for a minute.
Why should the guy parking for half an hour in the car park be subsidising the guy out all day using the hill paths? The guy on the hill is, dare I say, getting something for nothing especially if he does not have a car.
I think it is good if car parks are free and that the hills are free. And if the tax payer has to pay a bit extra that's fine with me the same as I am fine with paying as a tax payer for 5th November and other firework displays I never go and see.
The real losers if free parking was provided would be the car park policing companies who are making multi millions out of this lucrative industry. They are the real money for nothing people.

[rockhopper]

Just back from the Lake District - on one day alone we paid around £9 for three separate stops in three car parks each with number plate recognition. Two were only an hour or so with the third under three hours. On the plus side, no charge when visiting National Trust walks/waterfalls (as they accept our NTS memberships) - cheers

[Soldier of fortune]

Just an update, the bill that these private companies send you for overstaying is just that a bill, what they do, as you'll see in many supermarkets and the like is put terms and conditions up, which can, in most cases only be read once you're out of the car and when you have already given you car registration to the car park company to sell on to the companies that supply data to law enforcement agencies, who by the way pay a daily fee to access them,so they have already made money from you even if you don't decide to pay for parking. Try and find out who owns your local cctv camera's or the ANPC's and if you can you'll be surprised, Moray council only owns one cctv camera the rest belong to private companies.
A one time you could just ignore the bills that these companies send out in Scotland because they are just that a bill, because taking you to court would cost the parking company to much time and money. Not any more though the Scottish government, after a not very well advertised consultation and pressure from the law society'/debt collectors, changed the law in November 2016 and there is now a 'simple procedure' to take people to court for sums up to £3000, just a matter of form filling and a £90 debt could become a £450 debt backed by the courts.
The spate of nurses being taken to court early this year proved that government doesn't always work for those that it represents, even it's own employees!
Much of the land that we park on is owned by the taxpayer, forestry and private individuals, the idea of making money from everyone what ever they are doing is a modern plague and car park companies tout for business, SNT and the name "Glencoe" is a good example of this money making madness there are several other places called Glencoe world wide that predate the SNT ownership so I don't think that they do have any legally binding right to exclusive use to the name.
Unless people stick up for what we have now we will soon have to pay for access and then only if you have your digital identity and mountain insurance certificate with you.