Parking charges at popular Barnsley beauty spot are an “accident waiting to happen” say concerned residents

Langsett is one of four reservoirs where Yorkshire Water has proposed a trial to charge visitors for parking.

Yorkshire Water say the charges will fund rangers, nature conservation, countryside management and improvement of facilities.

If approved, visitors will be charged £1 for one hour, £2 for two hours, £3 for six hours, £5 for all-day parking, and a £30 annual pass will be available.

However, residents and business owners are concerned that the charges may lead to visitors parking their cars inappropriately on grass verges and in their car parks on the A616 Manchester Road.

Councillor Peter Horner, resident and chair of Langsett Parish Council said: “We’re really concerned about the safety of people coming to visit because it’s natural for people not want to pay, they will move from the car park to wherever is free.

“What we can envisage happening is we’ll have a half empty car park, but the streets will be full of people, and it’s really dangerous. That’s a 40 mile an hour road, people often go above that speed limit.

“We see it as an accident waiting to happen, and that is a real concern to us.

“We haven’t had a fatality on this road for many, many years before my time – but we see it as being a possible issue.”

Councillor Horner added that the Waggon and Horses pub and the Bank View Cafe, both on Manchester Road, may suffer as a result.

“We anticipate that those car parks will become full of people who are going for a walk.

“Yes, they may visit the pub afterwards or they may visit the cafe, but if they’ve taken two three hours of time up, then that’s prevented regular customers.

“What damage is going to be done to those businesses, are we going to lose those businesses? That would be a huge detriment, it would change the just the way the whole place feels and looks.”

Rachel Battye, co-owner of the Waggon and Horses pub on Manchester Road, added that many of the pubs customers are older, who may struggle to walk long distances and rely on the car park to visit.

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: “The revenue generated from the parking charges will contribute towards the provision of Yorkshire Water’s first in-house Ranger team.

“Three rangers will be based in the south area, which includes Langsett, and so this will be one of the sites they focus on.

” They will be engaging with visitors helping to reduce the things such as fires and BBQs, swimming, littering, fly-tipping and genera anti-social behaviour.

“They will also support the maintenance and conservation of the site making repairs, improving wildlife habitats and litter picking.

“Money from the parking charges will also be reinvested across Yorkshire Water’s sites to deliver nature conservation, countryside management and improvement of facilities at reservoir sites.

“The project is a trial and impacts, if any, of dispersed parking will be monitored and we will keep in regular contact with the Parish Council throughout the trial period.

“As we aren’t responsible for the roads in the area, we are continuing to work with Barnsley Council, the Police and Highways England to look at solutions to deter/prevent unsafe and inappropriate parking.

“Yorkshire Water recently attended the parish Council meeting and are providing written responses to questions that weren’t answered at the time of the meeting.

“We are committed to working with key stakeholders to monitor the impact of the parking charges during the trial period including both negatives and positives.”

Residents can comment on the plans until August 23 on Barnsley Council’s website