New £1 coin costing Calderdale Council a small fortune

Calderdale Council was due to begin work during this month, with a projected sum of £52,500.

The Council’s director of economy and environment Mark Thompson said: “We have over 250 parking machines in Calderdale and we

expect all of these to be ready to accept the new pound coins by mid-June.”

But he said it would be “unwise” to compare total costs per borough “without more analysis of cost per machine and other local factors”.

Aside from Calderdale, of those that responded to the FoI requests fully North Yorkshire County Council and Scarborough Borough Council were the only authorities to say that none of their parking payment machines had been converted before May. Calderdale’s projected total cost for work starting this month is £40,750. Upgrades in Scarborough have been ordered but no date was given for the conversion of its 158 machines.

The new 12-sided coin became legal tender on March 28 this year as its final model was decided after a ten-week public consultation.