Raced the mini dh last week, went for a quick practice on the Saturday as I wouldn’t have time to before the race – parked in the carpark above the uplift pickup point, paid for a ticket no problem.

Sunday turned up for race runs, crazy busy with nowhere to park. Abandoned the car in a ditch at the top of the fire road that leads out of the same carpark, miles away from the carpark and machine.

Came back to a PCN – are these enforceable outside the carpark barriers? Very rarely visit the cycle centre but always pay for parking when I do, also had is in mind that the race entry used to include parking but may have dreamed that one!

They are rarely enforceable anywhere so outside the car park seems unlikely. Were there any signs nearby?

Is it a private road?

If it’s a public highway with no signage or road markings to the contrary ….

Not a sausage, I was probably getting on for 1km up the fireroad – place was jammed.

Edit – quick measure on Google maps suggests 500m, felt longer walking to the cafe!

presumably you drove past the ticket machine on the way to your parking spot so no excuse really

Do we pay for car parking?
Yes Forestry Commission have changed the parking fees to £7 per day, you can now buy a freedom pass which is valid for 12 months for £30 so it loads cheaper to get one of these passes. You can get here or buy from the cafe.

FAQ

Yeah no excuse, fully aware you pay for parking within the carparks – had done so the day before.

Was unaware the charges still applied to ditches miles away from the carpark, live you learn.

Thanks for the link to the pass, usually stick to off-piste when at FoD so probably not worth the £.

Ive often parked where you did. I always pay as you have to actually drive past the ticket machine and to me you are still in the carpark. So I think you should pay / should have paid.

Naughty James 😉

I know mate, not sure what I’m more pissed off about, the ticket or my mate beating me by 0.3 of a second 😆

also had is in mind that the race entry used to include parking but may have dreamed that one!

You didn’t dream that one… Race entry always used to include a free parking pass…

USED TO…

Glad to know I’m not going mad!

Parking is one reason I’m visiting FOD less and less now. Had a good chat with the parking attendant, try to convince me to by a pass. Looked on strava when I got home and I only visited twice last year, visited 6 times the year before (when parking was cheaper).

The attendant was very switched on about who had arrived and bought a ticket and who haddent… Saw two tickets being issued as I got my bike out the van.

I don’t mind that charge at the trail centre, those trails and the facilities are quite good. If you want to ride off piste, sure park somewhere free then.

The fire road is still Forestry and all part of the car park as you have found out you need to pay I talk to a guy at Beechinghurst the other week they use to put voluntary fines on them and people still took the piss so they slap proper fines on them pass is only £29 a year if you do it on line there is hundreds of places in the Forest to park for fee as well.

Apart from the parking attendant what does the parking fee pay for. I expect the fees barely cover his wage and labour related overheads if he’s directly employed, if he’s a contractor then the fees won’t cover that and they need the penalty charges to make ends meet. Maybe an FOI request to the Forestry Commission to find out would be useful.

Maybe an FOI request to the Forestry Commission to find out would be useful.

Useful in what way ? (Genuine question)

Apart from the parking attendant what does the parking fee pay for.

Access to park a vehicle there for a period of time?

It’s a Parking Charge Notice rather than a Penalty Charge Notice.

Although you pay it via the Forestry website all the details point back to a private parking company so I’m guessing that’s who employs the parking bod.

I expect the fees barely cover his wage

500 tickets each day on a weekend.

1000 x 7 = £7000

7000 x 52 = £364,000

That is a conservative estimate and doesn’t include weekdays, holidays or event weekends.

I’d suspect even if you’d bought a ticket to park you’d still have received the charge notice as you weren’t parked in a marked bay/authorised carpark.

You could challenge it if you could be arsed. PePiPoo is a good website for that sort of thing

Apart from the parking attendant what does the parking fee pay for.

Access to park a vehicle there for a period of time?

Whilst you’re parked there you can use the toilet facilities and the outdoor seating facilities too.

You could even ride a bicycle along a number of mountain bike trails there if you wished, they don’t charge any extra for that…

BTW, I don’t know if the parking fee is ring-fenced but the FC do spend a lot of money on the trails there. The event organisers also make a generous donation to the Dean Trail Volunteers who do a lot of work providing and maintaining trails there too.

I parked very nearby on the same day, it took a minute or two each way to ride to the ticket machine

FOI Useful to see how many people pay to park at the weekend. I suspect that if they pull the commercially sensitive line for not obliging that my guess is correct and they don’t make enough to cover costs.

BTW, I don’t know if the parking fee is ring-fenced but the FC do spend a lot of money on the trails there.

I don’t believe this is the case.

The event organisers also make a generous donation to the Dean Trail Volunteers who do a lot of work providing and maintaining trails there too.

The DTV do good work and yes I understand most event organisers do contribute to the fund.

Cannop ponds or Speculation are both free to park .

Ticketing is done by a FC warden driving a 4×4 pickup, not a private parking company. He hates that part of his job, so he told me!

The price increase a couple of years ago takes the piss though. If the money went into actually making the parking area big enough for when large events are on (or even just busy weekends in the heght of summer!) I would happily pay £7. It takes the piss even more when you’ve got to park 1/2 a mile away up that fire road and STILL have to paay full whack.

Since the land isn’t public highway the PCN would be unenforceable if you wanted to be an arse about it.

“Ticketing is done by a FC warden driving a 4×4 pickup, not a private parking company. He hates that part of his job, so he told me!”

not sure that’s correct anymore . The last time I was there mid-week the car park was definitely been checked by a specific car park warden from a private firm , not anyone from the FC .

Don’t know about fod but in our area CP charges are put in to the pot, not ringfenced.
I think the FC has harmonised the CP charges across England. By the sounds of it the season ticket is cheaper there than here.
Worth pointing out if you do a few volunteer days on trails you will likely be eligible for a free volunteer pass which is good nationwide.

On Saturdays and Sundays the FC do check the cars etc in Beechinghurst you say £7 is a rip of you can stay less time and pay less most of the car parks around the Malvern Hills are £4.50 a day with no other choice which is crap if you only want a hour I look at it this way makes the pass a complete bargain.

most of the car parks around the Malvern Hills are £4.50 a day with no other choice

Luckily, as I live there, I can get a yearly ticket for £5 that covers the whole of the parking on the Hills 🙂
But, yeah, the fixed price is rubbish if you just want to go for an hour or so.

**** the parking charge and give a donation to the FoD trail group, karma +

here you go

https://www.fodmtb.com/