http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-36014525

Bristol parkrun joggers face being charged to use paths

Would be a shame if it does happen, but I guess only comparable to holding a bike race, and I cant recall ever being to a bike race that hasn’t charged?

It obviously benefits Public Health being free, however are the people who turn up for these events, people who ordinarily go out running anyhow?

Me I think its a shame if it doesn’t continue to be free 🙁

Genuine issue for councils with public land being used for commercial events, also even if the event is free the council faces additional clean-up costs or maintaince costs. As you say paying a few £ per head should not be a crises

Hyperbole alert!

The story is that one parish council controlling one park are being a PITA.

Genuine issue for councils with public land being used for commercial events, also even if the event is free the council faces additional clean-up costs or maintaince costs.

Ah, so runners are wearing the paths out, is that it?

I thought ParkRun wasn’t commercial, run by volunteers etc?

The story is that one parish council controlling one park are being a PITA.

Yes and now it is in the national news, so other councils will see it as a good bandwagon to get on….

Yes and now it is in the national news, so other councils will see it as a good band wagon to get on….

Hardly: I’ve known about this issue for some time, and there’s no sign of it being a problem anywhere else in Bristol.

I thought ParkRun wasn’t commercial, run by volunteers etc

Exactly. That’s the point 😕

It’s very difficult to see what impact Parkrun has on anyone else: it’s just a group of people running at (usually) a time when the park is deserted save for a couple of dog walkers.

I’ve been to plenty of Park Runs and never see a mess to clean up after. Not entirely sure that you can argue that there is more maintenance required as some of the parks I’ve ran at started off with paths that were covered in moss and after a months of people running on them they nearly clear of it but the paths that weren’t used still had a covering.
Very short sighted of Stoke Gifford Parish Council and no doubt the local business will suffer if the run is no longer held there with people using the shops and cafe before and after they run.
If it was a commercial event then fair enough but these are no more than charities aimed at getting people out of their houses and getting fit. I know I started my running because of Park Run and had some great support from them as wobbled around the park failing to get under 40 mins. Yes, I was that fat and unfit.

I know I started my running because of Park Run and had some great support from them as wobbled around the park failing to get under 40 mins. Yes, I was that fat and unfit.

Which is the point, surely. There are only two options: free Parkrun, or no Parkrun. The council will not make any money if it decides to charge.

Isn’t physical exercise supposed to be encouraged? Obesity epidemic and all that?
I have never been to a parkrun, but friends get dragged to them by their kids and they end up getting exercise AND enjoying it. Some now run in their “own” time now too.

Surely if they charge the runners to use the park paths then everyone that enters should be charged the same fee?
If they do bring the charge in then they’ll just stop doing parkruns there.
All the parkruns I’ve been to have been great – they bring people to the area that wouldn’t on the whole be there, who will no doubt use other amenities and probably spend a bit of cash at local businesses.
It’s just short sighted cashing in by the parish council, but will end up with them stabbing themselves in the back if they do bring the charge in.

It obviously benefits Public Health being free, however are the people who turn up for these events, people who ordinarily go out running anyhow?

Some are, but I know loads of people who started running because of Park Run. Whether there’s a long-term health saving, I don’t know, as they all seem to have continual injuries.

Rather daft idea by the council. PR is not a race or a commercial event. Will they charge dog walkers and their dogs? Parents with pushchairs who churn up the grass. Never seen a messy PR plus they bring money to the local shops.

I took up Park Run before Christmas as a means of “cross” training for the bike and was impressed at the turnout. Very well run events by volunteers and a good mix of abilities.
Running isn’t my cup-of-tea (bores me) but its a great 30min kicking where I dont have to worry about washing the bike after and I dont have to shed-out for an expensive licence to find out I dont enjoy it. It’s a cheap and cheerful way of getting fit – although some people bring cake for after 😀

Stoke Gifford Parish Council

my guess is a member of Stoke Gifford Parish Council used to like quiet sunday morning walks in the park…

Stoke Gifford Parish Council will decide later whether to ask runners to pay for maintenance of the paths.

Well, one can only hope there’ll charge every other user too – in the interests of fairness obviously.

I can’t imagine that idea would go down too well!

Similar discussions ongoing between BMC and the National Trust and NRW, who are both griping about “commercial use”

Unfortunately their byelaws are less than clear, and do prohibit some commercial uses (like ‘exposing’ goods for sale) but say nothing about provision of services like guiding or professional dogwalking . They are both trying to either ignore or reinterpret their byelaws in a way that would prohibit it.

Never taken part as none close enough, but been to a few locations as they are winding up, and never seen an issue with litter or damage to surfaces.

I have seen quite a lot of people paying for parking, using the cafe facilities, and generally giving an area a happy, healthy and positive vibe.

Easy to be cynical about parish councils, but it’s invariably just a couple of publicity seekers giving the rest a bad name.

I’d happily pay £1 to the local park’s association/charity if it meant making an excellent space (Roundhay, Leeds) even better. Directly to the council however… probably not.

Maybe ‘voluntary contribution to the park’s charity’ might be less compromising to Park Run’s values?

Park run is not without impact here – parking is very tricky for an hour or so and it makes walking the dog/toddlers on the park’s arterial paths impossible. But no bones, we just go elsewhere on a Saturday morning.

Next step: Councils throughout the country implement “pay to walk” schemes.

It’s ridiculous: I’m sure it’s been dreamt up by some accountant who’s been tasked with coming up with ways to make some cash (it actually sounds like the kind of rubbish a contracts manager we once worked with would come up with).

I’ve been to plenty of Park Runs and never see a mess to clean up after.

Perhaps Paula Radcliffe attends this one?

I never used to run and, as cycling *still* seems to be a problem, started running the Parkrun in November. I was at a stage where I couldn’t even run 5k in one go and now I’m happily completing 10k runs in an hour – Parkrun has been a *really* big deal to me and I might never have done it if I had to pay.

Rachel

The likes of British Military Fitness do pay a charge for using public parks, but then they’re a commercial organization that takes money from participants and they do get perks like access after dark through the winter.

I love Parkrun but our local one is heaving already and will probably get bigger over the summer. 600+ people in a little park makes it difficult for anyone else to use, even with marshalling there’s some damage around paths and the roads around are crammed with parked cars.

The answer I think is to encourage more, smaller events – but they can struggle for volunteers, let alone people willing to run an event every week. Certainly where I am there’s quite a few public parks between the ones that do parkrun and having 200 at each would be much lower impact. I would’t blame a local council wanting to do something to limit numbers.

It wouldn’t be £1 though would it?
Park run would need to charge for the time and services to would take to collect, administrate and send the money. Infrastructure that they don’t have at present.
The Parish just needs to stop being a dick. It’s a pretty transparent grab for a grant. Parish meeting minutes here;
http://www.stokegifford.org.uk/attachments/article/467/16.02.09%20Draft%20Full%20Council%20Minutes%20Tuesday%209th%20February%202016.pdf
Boatload of people just out for personal gain at the cost of something for the benefit of anyone.

Surely there’s no real difference between “parkrun” and “a lot of people turning up to go for a run together” in any real sense?

I know a couple of people who have done these things, they seem a pretty decent way of getting people out in the open and exercising. Why on earth anyone would suggest they should have special charges applied I genuinely don’t understand.

Well I’m going to carry on turning up at the same time on a Saturday and killing myself for 20 minutes running around the same paths.I’m sure a lot of people will be joining me.
Good publicity for Park Run in the end, a few people who weren’t aware of them might be now.

Wrecker, nice find. The council wants money and the “residents” don’t want to share their park. The Park Run representative did the right thing in not applying for grants as the council were pushing them to do. It would be saying that Park Run should contribute to the park and if no grants were given or later withdrawn were would they stand then.
Small minded parish council with a few busy body residents with nothing better to do than complain. I’m sure a few flash mobs at the park would give them something to really whine about.

Well I’m going to carry on turning up at the same time on a Saturday and killing myself for 20 minutes running around the same paths

Show off 😯 although some of ours are 16mins on a hilly course

. The council wants money and the “residents” don’t want to share their park. The

I dunno, the minutes show that the residents are angry about PR not applying for the grant. They just want money to make their park nicer. The fact that it is obviously about improvement and enhancement show that it has nothing to do with maintenance.
I only live a few miles from Stoke Gifford, the parish includes the HUGE UWE campus and I expect a lot of Bradley stoke (a fierce concentration of intensively built modern houses). I can well imagine the middle classes who reside there have the capacity to be…difficult.

philjunior – Member
Why on earth anyone would suggest they should have special charges applied I genuinely don’t understand.

there’s no shortage of half-wits, they seem drawn to local government for some reason…

600+ people in a little park makes it difficult for anyone else to use

True, but
a) They’re done pretty early in the morning, all year round, it’s not like they charge through a toddlers tea party at 3pm on a Sunday in summer just for the sake of it.

b) 600 people, are people too. They’re no less entitled to use the park than anyone else, and are arguably being far more considerate, 600 being not much more of an inconvenience than 10 really.

I don’t really get why park run is seen as a special case. If a local running club was putting it on (and many moons ago when I ran they did) they’d be charged for doing so despite not ‘making a profit’ off it.

Whole story tells you all you need to know about parish councils.
Perhaps if parish council members were representatives of all the parishioners this garbage wouldn’t make it on to their agendas.
Park run is one of the very few things I can think of that is really all good with no negative aspects (ok maybe parking- but cars are a problem for all of society)
Just a load of NIMBYs abusing their power and status.

mrhoppy – Member

I don’t really get why park run is seen as a special case. If a local running club was putting it on (and many moons ago when I ran they did) they’d be charged for doing so despite not ‘making a profit’ off it.

Most park-runs are organised or at least mostly staffed by the local running clubs. In one case I know of they base it out of the running clubs club-house.

I get your point though, mass participation ‘events’ are events and should be treated as such in terms of organisation and legal requirements. However its pretty clear the benefits of these runs outweigh the minor negatives, especially as they are often short duration and early on in the day so only the daft would try to charge (sadly that’s the type who run councils)

I get your point though, mass participation ‘events’ are events and should be treated as such in terms of organisation and legal requirements.

It would seem from a google search that they have insurance from UK athletics and obtain events licences from the local councils…

Alternatively: a load of bolloks and red tape is what holds back other sporting events and Park Run should be the shining example, not the exception.

It’s no different to club TT really, or audax or reliability trial, although they usually have a nominal charge to cover admin etc.

don’t really get why park run is seen as a special case. If a local running club was putting it on (and many moons ago when I ran they did) they’d be charged for doing so despite not ‘making a profit’ off it.

This. My club puts on an annual evening of road races within Birkenhead park. A load of volunteers give up their time yet the club has to jump through hoops.
Parkrun avoid this by naming them “time trials” and not races. No issue with 00’s of people running around a park on a Saturday morning (the more the merrier) just the unfairness of it.

Just remembered that Bristol is the european capital for sport this year too 🙄

Council votes to charge Parkrun for Little Stoke event