Town fans have reacted angrily to confirmation that matchday parking in Ipswich Borough Council’s car parks around Portman Road will increase in price to £15 from next week.

IBC had proposed the move in September and signs posted in the West End Road car park at Sunday’s game against Manchester United confirmed that the new price will be in operation from December 3rd when the Blues host Crystal Palace.

The five-hour price for the West End Road car park advertised on IBC’s website, which fans might have been paying on a matchday up to now, is £5.90, while the all-day charge is £7.

Councillor Jane Riley, IBC’s portfolio holder for culture and customers, outlined the reasons behind the price increase.
 
“There is significant congestion in the area around the Portman Road stadium when there is a home match being played,” she told TWTD in a statement.
 
“The new tariff of £15 on home match days only applies at our long stay car parks situated on Portman Road, Princes Street, and West End Road, for the period starting three hours before kick-off to one hour after kick-off.
 
“Those prepared to pay the premium will have parking very close to the stadium while the charge may also encourage local fans to travel to games via other means such as park & ride, bus, cycling or walking.
 
“Premium tariffs are common at car parks close to other Premier League grounds on home match days, with some venues charging up to £37 per day.”

Photo: Matchday Images

HighwoodsBlue added 15:25 - Nov 27 Pure profiteering, this hike won't affect congestion at all. And comparing the price of an all-day car park in London, Manchester, Birmingham or Liverpool with Ipswich town centre is laughable.
24

Bluespeed added 16:19 - Nov 27 Come on Riley be honest you see this as an opportunity to fleece the public! Reduce congestion my armpit ! & by the way where do I secure my cycle then ??
15

Cloddyseedbed added 16:19 - Nov 27 Move the Stadium out of the Town, see how the Council would love that. IBC you are a disgrace. How about getting a decent park and ride up and running and publicise it. ATM getting to watch football at Ipswich isn't a pleasant experience for someone who can't walk very far.
20

Cakeman added 16:28 - Nov 27 Thanks very much IBC! Unnecessary pure greed and an excuse to rip off the supporters. Will the prices come back down if we are relegated back to the Championship? No of course they won’t. Might also be an idea to make the ‘premium’ car park behind the Cobbold stand safe as well. The condition with numerous pot holes is unacceptable. A disgraceful decision but sadly no surprise to me.

12

Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:29 - Nov 27 The car is god in the UK. Too many people take their cars when they could find other ways to travel, although I get that for some, perhaps with disabilities, other options are limited. The solutions are much better public transport (maybe the increased parking fees could help pay for it!) and why not the park and ride scheme suggested above? It just needs a bit of imagination and then action. PS: I don't own a car!

-9

BobbyBell added 16:32 - Nov 27 IBC drove shops out of town and now they wonder why footfall is down over 30%. This parking hike is yet another idiotic money grabbing idea. You will end up with carparks half empty and fans spending more time getting to and from the stadium. That means less money spent in local bars and food outlets as they have less time.
17

ArnieM added 16:48 - Nov 27 Profiteering pure and simple.
10

RegencyBlue added 17:04 - Nov 27 IBC hasn’t got anything right in my 60+ years so no surprises here! This is pure profiteering and nothing more.
20

joyousblue added 17:17 - Nov 27 Macdonald walks around ipswich a photo outside shops doesnt walk down past the derilict shops or the uneven pavement how we have so msny phone shops that they cant possibly survive so they get a vastly reduce rent , to the detirment of established shops so why woukd he give two hoots about us itfc fans its money to open more romanian shops in town
4

IpswichToon added 17:19 - Nov 27 I'm curious to hear what people's alternative suggestions are to encouraging people to use Park & Ride over parking right outside the stadium, adding to congestion. Remember that the congestion may not affect you so much in the stadium or sat at home on the sofa during match day, but a lot of non-football people avoid going in to town on match days because of how bad it is. It's only fair that the council try to mitigate this.

-10

Beattiesballbag added 17:26 - Nov 27 Obviously Jane Riley like most that work on councils don't have the intelligence to attract people to a dying town center, instead they just try to fleece a captive audience, thanks to ITFC's popularity
13

BtreeBlueBlood added 17:32 - Nov 27 Just wondering- will IBC do anything extra this season to warrant the substantial increase? Is the traffic warden getting a substantial increase for the 4hrs of premiership football? Have they introduced traffic marshals to move the traffic to avoid the congestion? ( maybe over ride the traffic lights!
7

IpswichT62OldBoy added 17:44 - Nov 27 Presumably people will now park in random back streets and on verges instead. Genius.
9

Bigboyblue added 17:44 - Nov 27 "those prepare to pay a premium." Well it doesn't sound like I'm going to get the choice that's implied here. I'm disabled and can't walk any further than I do and I can't use public transport. £15 is going to be a significant hit to my already strained budget. Can I also point out the state of the PR carpark. Its pothole wasteland.
13

Beattiesballbag added 17:45 - Nov 27 Just hope on the Park & Ride & head down the Norwich rd into town,....oh hang on, there isn't one!!
12

Bluearmy_81 added 17:55 - Nov 27 Agree Sweden Steve. The UK is so reliant on cars. A large part of why that is is probably because public transport is so shi..te. Even so, there are other options
2

Westy added 18:00 - Nov 27 There seems to be real lack of understanding that a lot of Ipswich fans travel from outside the town, don't live near a railway station or would drive past a park n' ride on the way into Ipswich. Total profiteering that ultimately won't make much money for the IBC yet alienate and anger many. It will only put pressure on other parking venues and cause more chaos. Incompetent, taking advantage of Town's success and treating the symptom not the cause.

16

wewerefamous added 18:11 - Nov 27 What an absolute joke! Town back in the Prem should be the perfect opportunity to revitalise the town centre. Now instead of people arriving early and going into the town before the game (to spend their hard earned cash), they just won’t bother as they can’t afford it every home game. The lack of intelligence of these “councillors” is unbelievable.
16

Broadbent23 added 18:11 - Nov 27 When Brighton had stadium issues the football club introduced a park and ride scheme and your ticket gave you free travel. There is ample land around Ipswich to build new p& r. I realise it is pointless during the week because the town centre is so poor. The IBC are not bothered as they have luxury parking close to the ground. Hopefully our club will buy these car parks.

5

PSGBlue added 18:13 - Nov 27 If only 1000 fans decide to cycle in, can IBC suggest where they are stored whilst the match is on! If all fans took their advice, the local transport system couldn’t cope, just imagine 10000 fans trying to get in on council buses!
10

blues1 added 18:19 - Nov 27 Agree with everyone's sentiments on this. Ridiculous. However, the way around this is to get to the car parks over 3 hours before the k.o. Gateway, you pay the normal daily rates. (£7 for all day). Know that may not be possible for some tho.
1

E_I_E_I_E_I_O added 18:24 - Nov 27 Let’s face it everything about Ipswich apart from the football team is horrible. Park in Stowmarket for free and train in and save an hour waiting in traffic.
6

blues1 added 18:38 - Nov 27 We were famous . But if fans arrive early, earlier than 3 hours before kick off, this charge doesn't apply. So while I accept its inconvenient for some fans, if they leave home earlier, they will pay the usual car park charges. Ridiculous that they would need to do that, but a way around it.
2

wewerefamous added 18:44 - Nov 27 Blues 1… arrive 3 hours early??? I don’t think so. I already travel 1.5 hours to get to Ipswich.
0

trulyblue added 18:46 - Nov 27 Labour run council in tax increase shock!!! Well you muppets voted for them!
19

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls