A drop in footfall on one of York’s most historic streets has led opposition councillors to urge that cheaper parking is reinstated.
The Liberal Democrats says figures show footfall on Micklegate has fallen by 15% in August compared to the same month last year.
But the Labour council which brought in the increased charges accused the Lib Dems of ‘cherry picking’ the figures and said “the most recent data demonstrates that York is thriving”.
Micklegate trader: Biggest threat in 42 years
John Hughes runs Cads hair salon on Micklegate. He’s been trading on the street for 42 years, first at number 60, before moving to 102.
“The issue we’ve had recently with the parking is probably the biggest threat to my business I’ve experienced in all 42 years of trading,” he said.
“It’s the lack of accessibility. Once you remove accessibility to any business, whether it be a hairdressers, lingerie shop, news agent, whatever it may be, you remove the potential for that business to thrive, and it’s not a positive experience for any business at all.”
John said he’s met with Labour’s transport lead, Cllr Kate Ravilious. “I can see her point where she’s trying to reduce remove congestion, which seems to be the bug bear at the moment.
“But if there aren’t any businesses left in the city to operate, she’s not going to have a congestion problem, but she will have a lot of shops empty problem.
“The facility for half an hour’s parking certainly on micklegate itself is essential.
He also said the decision to force people to pay by phone rather than with coins had affected some of his older customers.
Lib Dems: Council must act now
York Liberal Democrats are renewing their call for the reintroduction of a cheaper 30-minute car parking option on Micklegate.
It follows new data published here, which the party says shows footfall on the street has dropped by 15% year on year.
Cllr Stephen Fenton, Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson, said: “When Labour hiked car parking charges without proper consultation, they claimed it would help to deliver a shift to sustainable travel.
“But if you want people to give up their cars, you need better bus services and safer cycling and walking infrastructure, not punitive charges that simply drive people to shop elsewhere or online.
“A report to a meeting of the council’s executive earlier this month confirmed a continued decline in cycling and a drop in bus usage, which further supports the case for action.”
Cllr Ashley Mason, Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson, added: “York’s businesses have faced a punishing summer, hit by Labour’s parking hikes and the Government’s reckless National Insurance increase.
“Traders are telling us they are struggling to keep their heads above water. Labour must act now and reintroduce a cheaper 30-minute parking option before more businesses are forced to close.”
The Lib Dems said the council has stopped publishing footfall data for Parliament Street where the June figures – the latest available – show “a worrying 7% drop in footfall”
- Anger over ‘massive jump’ in parking charges on key York street
- Call for 30 minutes free parking at York shopping parades
- City of York Council reduce controversial car parking charges
Labour: York ‘way ahead’
Cllr Kate Ravilious, the transport lead on the Labour-run city council, said: “The Lib Dems are deliberately cherry-picking statistics and focusing on short-term trends in order to paint a negative picture.
“The most recent data demonstrates that York is thriving. The number of vacant shops in the city centre is decreasing and now stands at just 6.4%, compared to 8.1% at the same time last year.
“This is way below the national average of nearly 14% vacant shops.
“The footfall camera in Parliament Street hasn’t been working properly and so we have had to rely on other metrics such as card spend data in recent months. We are working to get this camera fixed.
“From the reliable data we do have city centre footfall is up nearly 6% year on year and way ahead of the national average which shows no significant growth.
“The Lib Dems took no interest in public transport or walking and cycling whilst in power, and oversaw a decrease in bus use and decline in cycling because they were not priorities for them. We are committed to improving public transport and walking and cycling options.”
Cllr Ravilious said that data on bus travel, walking and cycling is “very limited”.
“We are working with bus companies to put together a more comprehensive data package on bus use and we are investing in a network of walking and cycling counters so that we can really start to monitor the trends in bus travel, walking and cycling.”
She said: “In July we introduced extended hours for the Park & Ride service, with buses starting at 5:30am and running till at least 10:30pm. It’s only been in place since July but already we are seeing encouraging uptake of these new services.”
York BID: Direct impact on businesses
Andrew Lowson, executive director of the York BID (Business Improvement District), said: “‘At the moment, footfall for the city is around +1% year to date compared to the same period in 2024.
“However, this is partly because York had a very strong four months to April 2025 and since then, footfall has dipped compared to 2024.
“How much this can be attributed directly to car parking prices is tricky to tell, but we are beginning to get feedback from businesses that talk about the direct impact of parking on their business.
“It is near to six months since City of York Council raised the parking prices, so the BID plans to bring various datasets / businesses anecdotes together to illustrate the effect of parking prices on the city.
“We hope to be able to talk more about this in October.”
