Calderdale Council brings in more than £2.3million in parking fines
Plus: new noodle bar in Todmorden sees popular local expand empire
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Calderdale Lead!
In today’s edition we’ve got story which I’m sure is going to give you all a fuzzy warm feeling inside - it’s the amount of cash Calderdale Council have collected in parking fines over the last two years.
As you’ll see, it’s a staggering amount.
Plus, I tried out a new noodle bar in Todmorden which had me waking up the next morning wanting to devour it all again for breakfast.
So, on with today’s edition…
Parking fines help swell the coffers of cash-strapped Calderdale Council
By LDRS’ John Greenwood
Motorists in Brighouse and Halifax were the biggest contributors when it came to the millions of pounds of fines Calderdale Council dished out between 2022 and 2024.
Council figures show that money brought in from parking fines in 2022-23 was £777,920, rising to £1,604,560 in 2023-24.
The values are based on the fine amount at the time of issue, either £50 or £70 and the figures take no account of discount periods – all penalty charge notices (PCNs) are discounted for the first 14 days from the date of issue, says the authority.
In 2022-23 there were 12,860 PCNs issued and in 2023-24 there were 17,627 issued – these figures can be found on the council’s Data Works site.
The top ten locations where fines were issued throughout the full calendar year 2024, according to information received from a Freedom of Information request, were Godfrey Road, Skircoat Green, Halifax (487), Bradford Road, Brighouse (459), Crossley Street, Halifax (415), Old Market, Halifax (379), High Street car park, Halifax (363), Commercial Street, Halifax (310), Shibden Park’s Mereside car park, Halifax (309), Crown Street, Halifax (287), Harrison Road, Halifax (287) and Horton Street, Halifax (280).
These areas, and some others, have all brought in significant amounts in fines over the last two full council years, for which the following were in the top ten locations.
In 2022-23, Bradford Road at Brighouse brought £24,940 from fines, closely followed by Godfrey Road, Skircoat Green, Halifax, with £23,130.
Old Market saw £23,900 brought in from fines, while other areas included Commercial Street, Halifax (£19,990), while King Cross Road, Halifax, brought in £12,950.
Shibden Park’s Mereside car park brought in £12,310 that year while other amounts included Dryclough Lane, Halifax (£11,400), Crown Street (£10,580), Bull Green car park, Halifax (£10,170) and Alexandra Street, Halifax (£9,860).
In 2023-24, Old Market brought in £31,680, Bradford Road, Brighouse £29,840, Godfrey Road £28,450 and Commercial Street £19,620.
That year £17,830 came from Harrison Road, £17,810 from Crown Street, £16,590 from Crossley Street, £16,030 from Dryclough Lane, £14,630 from Horton Street and £13,590 from Bull Green car park.
Godfrey Road and Dryclough Lane are both close to Calderdale Royal Hospital, while Crossley Street, Old Market, High Street car park, Commercial Street, Crown Street, Harrison Road, Horton Street, Alexandra Street and Bull Green car park are all in, or close to, Halifax town centre.
Bull Green car park has now been closed amid major town centre road reconfiguration work.
The council is responsible for the issuing all Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) in relation to formal parking restrictions, both on-street and off-street.
This includes the administration of any appeals and the debt recovery process for outstanding or unpaid PCNs.
It has no jurisdiction or responsibility for enforcement of private car parks.
New noodle bar is a new gig for Gig!
It’s very rare I go out for a meal and then spend the whole of that night - and much of the following day - dreaming about when I can return and do it all again.
But that’s what happened last Saturday when I took a wander down to Ginger Tiger, a new noodle bar in Todmorden.
Situated on Water Street - in the old Grasso restaurant building - Ginger Tiger is the brainchild of Matthanee 'Gig' Nilavongse, best known for running The Golden Lion in the town.
Gig has spent the last few weeks doing up the old place and finally opened the doors a week ago. It’s fair to say that it’s been packed pretty much since then.
The menu is relatively simple - there’s a small selection of starters including dumplings and the most amazing cracking cauliflower and then the uber-delicious noodle soup which you can either have as a vegan option or a meat option.
The noodle soup is, without question, one of the best things I’ve tasted in a long time. Packed with chicken, vegetables and bags of noodles, it’s also brilliant value at £11.50!
It should come as no surprise though, especially given it’s Gig at the helm of this new venture.
She’s certainly well known around the town having started at the popular Three Wise Monkeys - at the opposite end of Water Street - before moving on and taking over The Golden Lion.
Her Thai menu at the Lion is to die for and it appears her Midas touch is at it again with the Ginger Tiger!
The premises is shared with another new addition to the Tod scene - Fat Fingers Wine and Vinyl!
Fat Fingers is part record shop, part wine bar, part craft beer place and it’s the perfect place to grab something to quaff while you scoff on Gig’s amazing noodles.
There’s a bit of a scene developing in Todmorden with a couple of new openings in recent times (including, I should declare an interest here, my own premises - The Beer Necessities on Water Street) and it’s clearly having an affect when it comes to visitors.
When I was out and about on Saturday I got chatting to people from Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester and Preston, all of whom had jumped on the train to sample the delights of Calderdale’s Lancashire-Yorkshire border town.
As both a huge lover of Todmorden - and, of course, a business owner in the town, long may it continue!
For more information about the Ginger Tiger click here.
That’s it for this midweek edition of The Calderdale Lead.
We’ve got so much planned over the next few months so… you’re in a position to do so, please consider taking a paid subscription so I can keep popping into your inbox twice a week with a Calderdale digest and stories.
As always, if you have anything you think I should be reporting on or looking into then I’m on calderdale@thelead.uk
Enjoy the rest of the week and we’ll be back in your inbox on Sunday!
Andrew