Sports park charges dropped following petition

Parking charges will not be introduced at a sports park after more than 2,000 of its users opposed the plans.

Wokingham Borough Council was looking to introduce charges at a number of free-to-use sites, including Cantley Park and Avery Corner.

The authority previously said it was "unable to continue to provide the extensive facilities" at Cantley Park without asking users to "contribute to its upkeep".

Cantley Park, off Twyford Road, includes sports clubs, Wokingham Theatre, the Wokingham Half Marathon, Wokingham Bikeathon, and Wokingham Festival.

But plans proved unpopular with users of the site, with the archery club's Becky Steliaros warning the charges would be "utterly devastating" on its finances.

Ms Steliaros asked the executive members to consider reversing the proposals as part of this year's council budget, set to be decided this month.

All Sports Wokingham, one of the businesses based at the site, also said the plans could "discourage participation" and place a "financial burden" on those that attend the park for sports.

The Labour opposition group on Wokingham Borough Council then launched a petition against the proposal which amassed more than 2,000 signatures before the reversal decision came from the Liberal Democrat administration.

Leader of the Labour group Rachel Burgess called the proposal "short-sighted", and said it would encourage people to "think twice" about visiting the car park.

A briefing paper showed the income raised by the charges would bring in up to £120,000 a year, according to Ms Burgess.

Now the Liberal Democrat administration has announced it will not introduce the parking charges despite "major pressure" on the council's budget.

Mark Ashwell, in charge of sport and leisure, said the facilities were "very important to our community", but warned "unpalatable choices are going to be increasingly unavoidable".

Leader of the council Stephen Conway said the authority would work with groups that use Cantley Park and come up with a solution "that benefits all of us".

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