Strategic Parking Principles for North Yorkshire Council

North Yorkshire Council engaged Parking Perspectives to develop a set of strategic parking principles. These are the overall framework for how the council will approach parking strategy and management throughout North Yorkshire.

The council, newly created in 2023, brought together the responsibilities from eight predecessor bodies. This includes the parking and highway management responsibilities that were previously split between the former County Council and district councils.

The council seeks to have coherent overall strategies for the services it provides. It is also committed to being local at its heart, so that decisions are locally-led and reflect each area’s own needs and circumstances.

We worked with council officers and the lead cabinet member to explore their goals, opportunities, constraints, and appetite for change. As part of facilitating this, we advised on the latest thinking in parking management best practice – including how parking can best support businesses, help decarbonisation and be financially sustainable.

The resulting principles reflect all these factors and articulate the council’s approach. They
cover four themes:

• Sustainable and attractive places
• Supporting the economy
• Delivering good-quality service
• Financial sustainability

They also reflect the diversity of the council’s area, which includes large and small towns, rural areas and tourist hotspots.

We produced a concise document setting out the principles and supporting narratives.

The council’s Executive adopted them in August 2025. They are now the starting-point for developing more detailed policies on how the principles will be applied to each issue, and for town parking strategies with action plans that translate the policies into specific measures and changes for individual places.

Client: North Yorkshire Council
February 2025