Pricing & demandBelper town car parks
A Belper Town Council consultation of September 2024 floated charges for the Coppice car park if the council decides to charge: 80p up to 2 hours, £1 up to 3 hours and £2.50 up to 4 hours in the short-term area, and £5 per 24 hours in the long-term area. The fourth hour would cost £1.50, 2.5 times the 3-hour price by our arithmetic. The council had not decided whether to charge, responses were due on 25 October 2024, and we haven’t seen the outcome.
Why might a car park charge more for the fourth hour than for the first three together, and what would you need to know to judge whether it works? Practise this in AO2 Application.
Interpreting numbersBelper Town Council budget
The council’s 2025/26 budget statement, approved on 14 January 2025, gives a budget of £844,477 and a precept of £814,960. Band D rises £7.80 to £109.38, which is 7.7% by our arithmetic, so about 7,451 Band D equivalent homes pay the precept. The page says the precept is 96.25% of income, but £814,960 is 96.5% of £844,477 by our arithmetic, so the figures disagree. The page is for 2025/26, not 2026/27.
Why might a rise of 15p a week hide a 7.7% rise, and how would you check a percentage on a page against its own figures? Step by step in AO3 Analysis.
Strategy & stakeholdersWho pays for Belper’s car parks
The same consultation gives annual costs of £22,586 for the Coppice (business rates £18,336 plus £4,250 maintenance or rent) and £10,664 for St John’s, £33,250 together by our arithmetic. It sets out three options: charge motorists, keep parking free and seek donations and sponsorship, or keep it free and fund it through council tax. None was decided. The document gives no income estimates, and its first car park case uses the same document.
Should a town council charge for car parks, rely on donations or fund them through council tax, and who gains or loses? A real judgement for AO4 Evaluation.
Belper’s economy in the classroom
Wikipedia’s list of settlements in Derbyshire by population gives 21,823 for Belper at the 2011 census, which counts the built-up area rather than the local authority and may be out of date. Car park charges, a town council budget and a funding choice give students real contexts for pricing, checking numbers and public money. We tie these themes to topics on the specification.
Sources: Wikipedia, list of settlements in Derbyshire by population; Belper Town Council, car park consultation (September 2024) and 2025/26 budget statement. The 2.5 times, £33,250, 7.7%, 7,451 and 96.5% figures are our arithmetic. The consultation is from 2024 with no outcome seen, the budget statement is for 2025/26, and the car park cases use the same consultation.
