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17
Sept 2023
Harrogate hospital defends new parking charges
Harrogate District Hospital has defended its new parking charges and said the ticketless system is reducing congestion.
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust introduced a new system and charges on September 6.
The old entry barriers have been replaced by automatic number plate recognition.
Visitors are now entitled to 20 minutes of free parking. It then costs £4 for up to two hours, £6.50 for up to four hours, £8.50 for up to six hours and £11 for up to 24 hours.
The new prices have attracted criticism on social media, with some complaining £4 is a lot to pay for a visit that might only last for 25 minutes.
Visitors previously received 30 minutes free parking and were then charged £2.60 for up to 90 minutes, £3.80 for up to two-and-a-half hours and £6.10 for up to four-and-a-half hours.
A trust spokesperson said:
The old barrier has been removed.
The spokesperson added the trust chose to keep free parking or concessionary rates for certain patients and visitors including blue badge holders, patients receiving cancer treatment, parents visiting the paediatric ward or special care baby unit, and those in receipt of benefits.
They added:
The spokesperson said car park management firm Parkingeye had not issued any parking charge notices to date because the hospital was operating a grace period.
He did not say how long this would last.
Asked how the new system was working, the spokesman said:
The ANPR system will be expanded into the trust's staff car parks in October, where staff will be charged a monthly fee to use the car parking facilities calculated on their vehicle’s emissions, their pay band and their contracted hours.
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