Wolverhampton Council makes £9m from parking in three years
A council raked in nearly £9 million from parking charges and fines over the last three years, new figures have revealed.
Around £1.5m of the total raised by Wolverhampton Council has come from on-street and council car park fines.
The streets where drivers are most likely to fall foul of traffic wardens have also been revealed, following a Freedom of Information request by the Express & Star.
Unsurprisingly, more drivers were caught out on city centre roads than anywhere else.
Wulfruna Street was where most fines were slapped on windscreens in 2017/18, followed by Cleveland Street, Thornley Street, Waterloo Road and Cheapside.
A total of £2,692,000 went into the council coffers through parking fees on streets and car parks during 2017/18, which was up slightly from £2.4m and £2.3m the previous two years. The council said the amount dipped during 2016/17 due to the six-month closure of the Civic Centre car park as it underwent refurbishment.
On top of that, the council also made almost half a million pounds each year from fines. It meant, in total, the council received £8,978,000 from parking fees and fines between 2015/16 and 2017/18.
The authority said the totals reflected gross income and did not take into account costs associated with providing parking services.
Other streets where motorists were likely to be fined were Red Lion Street, Railway Street, North Street, Wolverhampton Road, Wednesfield, and Temple Street.
The city's opposition leader Councillor Wendy Thompson said there was a risk of putting people off coming into the city centre if too many roads were governed by parking charges.
She said: "There is some crazy parking and we have got to have some enforcement. But when it comes to so much being raised I think you have to question the effect it is having on the city economy.
"We have got to encourage people to come into the city centre and when it gets ridiculous and a very large amount is being raised it is just a financial prop. It should be reasonable to encourage people into the city centre, especially when there are out-of-town shopping centres where people can park for free."
