Council parking profits

Parking

Rochdale Borough Council made £28,000 in profit from parking in the last financial year, figures from the RAC Foundation have revealed.

The figure is derived by taking the total income from on and off-street parking activities, comprising both parking charges (fees and permits) and penalty income, and deducting the amount spent on running parking operations.

The profit was in stark contrast to the previous financial year when there was a loss of £65,000.

Mark Widdup, director of neighbourhoods at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Any surplus which is generated is used to help fund improvements across our highways network.”

In Greater Manchester, the city region generated the most profit (£7.8 million), followed by Bury (£1.336 million), Stockport (£1.003 million), Trafford (£969,000), Wigan (£829,000), Tameside (£645,000), Salford (£640,000) and Bolton (£601,000).

Neighbouring Oldham had a deficit of £222,000.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The silver lining for drivers is that these surpluses must almost exclusively be ploughed back into transport and as any motorist will tell you there is no shortage of work to be done.

“We urge motorists to take the time to read their own local authority’s parking report so they can see both the rationale for charges in their area and how the surplus is being spent.”