Drive for coach park to welcome day trippers

More than 74,400 people visited the historic town in 2010, at least 40,000 of whom travelled by coach.

But as there is no dedicated coach park passengers are dropped off outside the magistrates’ court, with the drivers then having to find somewhere to park up and wait.

To combat the problem East Riding Council is considering providing seven spaces for coaches in the School Lane car park, which would cost £18,000 to modify, while also spending £45,000 on a new “puffin” crossing to improve pedestrian access from the site to the town centre.

Coaches would be charged £5.50 for four hours or £9 for a 10-hour stay. A total of 63 medium-stay car spaces would be lost.

A report to the council’s cabinet said: “The historic character of Beverley has long held an interest to visitors, with Beverley Minster being the town’s most prominent feature.

“This combines with the town’s heritage setting for retail tourism and its growing number of events and festivals with the Beverley Racecourse fixtures, the Literature Festival, the Food Festival and various music festivals all drawing visitors from outside the area.

“Many visitors to Beverley travel to the town on organised coach tours, particularly those who only visit for the day.

“Due to the historic and compact nature of the town, providing suitable facilities for coach parking has been a long-standing issue for the council.”

Tourism has been identified as one of the key drivers for the economic development of the East Riding.

According to the most recent statistics available, in 2008 tourism was worth about £347m to the East Riding economy, with day visitors spending about £220m a year. Tourism supports about 8,800 jobs in the borough.