Parking charges at Succoth, Arrochar.

[Robinho08]

It's all over social media at the moment. Parking charges are being increased from £1 to £9 a day.

[Sgurr]

Bad news...it's creeping Lake Districtisation. Just have to go up the Rest and be Thankful and do the Cobbler from the back etc.

[denfinella]

Just read about this on Facebook too. We did The Cobbler earlier this month and I thought £1 was surprisingly inexpensive. I'd be happy to pay up to about £4, but £9 is unacceptably high. I don't think I've seen such a high parking charge anywhere else in the countryside except at Loch Katrine.

[prog99]

I eventually found it elsewhere, heres a link - https://twitter.com/Tae_the_north?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

[Bourach]

A modest increase would be acceptable but a 900% hike is tax on our hard fought right of access.

[Sunset tripper]

We already pay taxes so parking should be included (especially for people parking for healthy pursuits). As soon as free parking becomes 50p or £1 it's a license to print money
I've often seen on these forums folk defending parking charges with arguments like your paying a vast amount on gear and petrol and cars so why should you not pay for parking too?

Well for folk who have that view here is your answer it could be £9 or it could be £20

[BlackPanther]

That's preposterous. Such charge will put people off hillwalking
Or everybody will park somewhere else, for example on the verge of nearby roads, to avoid paying the charge, and creating danger to other drivers.

[Robinho08]

I've often seen on these forums folk defending parking charges with arguments like your paying a vast amount on gear and petrol and cars so why should you not pay for parking too?

Yup, folk were coming out with that argument on one of the Facebook pages, how you can defend a 900% price hike is beyond me.

Fuel isn't cheap if you're travelling alone, then there's food in top of that. That £9 may have been spent in the local chippie or pub.

[al78]

I don't have a problem paying for parking, although £9 for parking in a remote rural area sounds like pi$$-taking. People in towns and cities pay way more than that for a days parking. To provide car parks and maintain them costs someone money, so why shouldn't the users pay a small charge. Not to mention that cars are a blight on the landscape, I've seen it in the Pennine villages and lake district, small villages that look like they were very picturesque in days gone by, that have now been ruined by continuous convys of motor vehicles through their main streets.

No it is not going to put people off hillwalking. There is no shortage of hills to climb where parking is free or very cheap.

[Glengavel]

Wonder if this is a ruse by A&BC? There'll be such an outcry about raising it to £9 (an odd figure in more ways than one) that they'll 'relent' and lower it to £5 or £6, which is what they had in mind all along.

Or maybe they really are that stupid/larcenous.

[prog99]

No it is not going to put people off hillwalking. There is no shortage of hills to climb where parking is free or very cheap.

It’s one of the closest good hill days out to Scotland’s largest city, the cobbler is an iconic hill. The car park is always rammed. I think it will put folk off.

[Giant Stoneater]

Although the hike in parking charges are beyond belief it will be on par with the Lake District and Snowdonia which is about £8.
I don't think the charges will put folk off,i was climbing Snowdon a few weeks ago and all car parks were full from about 4.30am,when i arrived by bus at 8.30 a lot of folk were trying to make other plans and no doubt other car parks were full by then also.

When you think how much you actually spend when you get up first thing in the morning to the start of a walk and home again,breakfast,sandwiches,drinks,petrol,beer etc, some people wouldn't leave the house if they worked out the cost.















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[paulG2]

people were already avoiding the charge by parking on the access road to the new estate that has been built. The council will take the proceeds and the locals and hillwalkers will suffer. poor show!

[davekeiller]

I To provide car parks and maintain them costs someone money, so why shouldn't the users pay a small charge.

I think that everyone understands that it costs money to build and maintain car parks, and most people are probably happy to contribute. However, are these charges in any way related to the true economic cost of maintaining the facility or is it just profiteering?
It's not really fair to compare with city centre car parks because the costs in a city centre are likely to be higher, and because part of the reason for charging is to try and discourage people from driving into city centres and encouraging public transport use.

Given that this car park is only about an hour's drive from Glasgow and is at the start of some really good walks, I suspect that this will put some people off. It's unlikely to deter people who are already keen hillwalkers (they'll either put up with it or go elsewhere), but I suspect there are quite a few people for whom it's their first taste of hillwalking and they might not even make the first step.

[Giant Stoneater]

I To provide car parks and maintain them costs someone money, so why shouldn't the users pay a small charge.

I think that everyone understands that it costs money to build and maintain car parks, and most people are probably happy to contribute. However, are these charges in any way related to the true economic cost of maintaining the facility or is it just profiteering?

Since councils have had their funding frozen for sometime now by government i would not call it profiteering.