Residents near King Charles’ Highgrove pay one of the most expensive car park permits in Britain – but say they still can’t park because of all the tourists.
People living in Tetbury near HRH’s country home fork out over £600 a year to park – double the cost of some of London’s wealthiest boroughs. That compares to £257 for vehicles in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and £321 in Westminster. Many residents living in Tetbury can’t park outside their homes and pay £640 for a season ticket to park in West Street car park. It is half allocated to locals – but they say they always struggle to find a space.
Speaking today one said “Obviously we’re happy to have King Charles over at Highgrove – but there’s so many tourists and it seems to leave Tetbury as the car park.”
Another resident Steve Tayler, 72, said: “It’s a problem. They’re about £600 a year, a hell of a lot, and there’s no allocated spots for residents so it’s just a free for all.”’ John Evans, 87, said: “I was looking out my kitchen window one day and there was a coach full of tourists that had come from Germany, parked in West Street.
“And because there’s a real need for large vehicles to have places to park, I’ve seen coaches in the car park here. It happens all the time. It’s crazy!” Kenneth Ford, 68, said: “Personally I think it’s a lot of money to be paying – £600 a year!
“If you go somewhere with your car you have nothing to say that you had that space. So everytime you go somewhere and come back you could not have a space, so you could be paying the £600 a year for nothing.
“At the end of the day, like in all these towns, it’s set up more for people coming into the town rather than the residents.” Annie Bowen, 78, said: “We reluctantly bought a permit. There’s no CCTV camera, there’s nothing to protect you there.
“Last Friday, we were parked in the car park and my husband went to go up the town to fetch his bike from a repair shop and when he passed our car there was a red mini impaled on it.
“A woman had left it without the handbrake on and it had rolled and done £3,500 worth of damage. So, what are we paying for? We’re not designated a space. It’s not safe, and it’s ridiculously expensive.” Dee Buss, 78, said: “It has really been bad.
”I have no choice but to buy a permit because parking in the street is nigh on impossible. This my eighth year with the parking permit and the price has just gone up and up and up.
“We have a situation where because we have so many Airbnb’s and second homes, people literally park where they see a space without thinking.
“In the house across, there’s an elderly disabled lady who had a hospital appointment on Saturday but couldn’t get her car out because another had been parked over her entry.
“Obviously we’re happy to have King Charles over at Highgrove, but there’s so many tourists and it seems to leave Tetbury as the car park.” Another resident added: “Since Covid, people don’t have to stay in London, they can come here and work from home. The whole thing has changed. Covid really changed things so there are people living here who commute from London perhaps once a week.
“Of course they don’t go in their cars, so their cars are parked here, so it is a cumulative problem really.” The council does provide free parking at the Old Railyard car park in the town.
Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, portfolio holder for parking at Cotswold District Council, said: “With officers from the council, I have spent time in Tetbury talking to residents, local businesses and other stakeholders so have a good understanding of the issues they are facing.
“In recognition of the needs of season ticket holders, half of the standard parking bays in the West Street Car Park on Old Brewery Lane are allocated to them.
”While we understand that holding a season ticket does not guarantee a parking space and that these tickets are not exclusively for residents, opportunities to expand off-street parking in the town are unfortunately limited.
“In addition, we also provide the old rail yard carpark in Tetbury which is free of charge. We remain committed to ongoing dialogue with local residents and businesses.”
Buckingham Palace was contacted for comment.
