Wakefield Council 'looking to address' parking problems at Pugneys Country Park

Pugneys Country Park, on Denby Dale Road in the city, has seen a boom in visitors since the start of the Covid pandemic.

But its growing popularity has come at a cost, as with its relatively small car park often full, visitors frequently park their cars illegally or disruptively on the surrounding streets.

The issue is not exclusive to Pugneys, with Wakefield's other country parks at Newmillerdam and Anglers also proving to be victims of their own successes.

Asked about the issue on an online Q&A session on Monday, the council's Cabinet member for highways, Matthew Morley said managing parking at Pugneys was a particular problem on weekends.

He said: "We'll go out on patrols with the police when we can. We can't be there all the time.

"But we'll go round the areas and enforce if people are parking where they shouldn't be parking.

"The car parks at our country parks are not always big enough, but we don't want to be turning more green space into parking.

"It's a problem we'll manage as best we can."

Pugneys was opened to the public in 1985 after being built on the site of an opencast mine.

Mark Lynam, the council's service director for economic growth, told the session that visitor numbers had "put a strain" on the services and car parking at Pugneys.

But he added: "We're acutely conscious the car park is not hard tarmac, so it gets a bit muddy at times during bad weather.

"We're definitely looking to do something about it.

"If people are unable to, or they don't feel comfortable, parking there then they'll park on nearby streets which causes conflict with residents living there.

"It's absolutely something we're keen to look at."

Local Democracy Reporting Service