Car Parking at Roadford Lake

Nick Herbert-Threlkeld, Head of Countryside at South West Lakes Trust responds to concerns over raised over the new car park system at Roadford Lake.

‘Car parking is a really important source of fundraising for our charity, accounting for around 6.5% of our income. Parking at Roadford Lake costs £2.50 for two hours and £5 for the whole day.

All income from our car parks contributes to the upkeep and enhancement of the lakes for our visitors and wildlife  from conserving important habitats to maintaining the public toilets and dog waste bins.

Most people who use our car parks do pay, but non-payment is an issue at some of our lakes.

For this reason, we installed automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology as a trial at Argal in December 2022. The trial was a success and as a result we installed ANPR at Roadford Lake in May 2024. This new system is an upgrade on the Pay & Display machines that have been in service in the Roadford car park for nearing 25 years and the charges have not been changed.

The ANPR technology is operated on our behalf by Smart Parking.

As well as encouraging visitors to pay for parking, we hope that the ANPR technology will help deter fly tipping and other forms of anti-social behaviour. It will also free up staff to spend more time caring for the lake.

In answer to your main concerns;

Drop off/ and collection provision:  as per legal compliance there is a 10 minute grace period in place (communicated via on site signage) which gives time for a visitor to enter the car park, understand the signage and spaces available and exit without incurring a fine, which also allows for drop off and collection.

If the visitor is spending greater time in the car park, utilising the facilities or as a gathering point/social location, then we would as you understand, expect parking payment to cover the cost of upkeep and maintenance of the facilities and the car park. Alternatively, there are laybys, remote car parks and similar in the area and around the reservoir which the local community are aware of and use.

No provision for local users:  for our regular visitors, which includes locals, we have offered a ‘Friends of South West Lakes Trust’ membership for many years, which is currently from £35 per annum. Friendship allows you to park at all of our car parks for free, and  we actively promote the scheme at Roadford. For further information please visit https://www.swlakestrust.org.uk/friends or ring the office on 01566 771930

Contested fines being ignored:  we are aware of some issues regarding permit holders (Members/Friends and otherwise exempt users) initially being incorrectly issued fines. This was due to an administration issue with Smart Parking Ltd, which has now been resolved. We have been in touch with those known to us to be affected and encouraged anyone experiencing issues to get in touch directly with us for support and advice.

And if anyone has not been in touch and would like further support please contact us on info@swlakestrust.org.uk, providing the ‘TC’ number from the parking charge notice issued by Smart Parking and reasoning.

The terms of the car park, including grace periods, tariffs, enforcement terms and appeals process, are all clearly displayed on signage around the car park in line with the British Parking Association which governs Smart Parking.

I hope this answers your main points and outlines the current situation. I understand the concerns around  this new system, however we have made no change to the use of the car park and with no change in cost to our visitors through the use of ANPR.

For any further information or guidance on car parking at our lakes please visit https://www.swlakestrust.org.uk/car-parking.’