New Recreation Charges
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The information contained in this Press Release may no longer be valid. The information is maintained on this website for reference purposes only.
January 14,2002
The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Bríd Rodgers, today announced the new concessionary rate for older people for entrance to Forest Parks in Northern Ireland.
Bríd Rodgers said:
"I am delighted that we can encourage older people in our society to enjoy our natural heritage, and that we can make it easier for them to take part in healthy activities like a walk in a forest."
The new entrance charges will be attractive to all users of forests, both local and visitors from further afield. Increases on the rates have only been applied to vehicular access and caravanning at the two most popular forest parks, Tollymore and Castlewellan. Entrance charges at all other sites have not been increased, in a bid to encourage more visitors to these less popular forests.
For further information please contact Mandy Wilson in Forest Service, telephone 02890-524480 or e-mail to customer.forestservice@dardni.gov.uk.
Notes for editor
1. A full list of revised charges is attached, and will soon be available on the website www.forestserviceni.gov.uk.
2. The new charges came into effect on 1 January 2002.
3. Access to most forests in Northern Ireland is free, but at the 9 most popular sites an entrance fee is levied. This is in compliance with the Fees and Charges Guide, which requires government bodies to recover costs where possible.
4. The income earned from entrance fees falls a long way short of the expenditure required on paths, car parks, litter collection. Income from visitors represents about ¼ of maintenance costs for the upkeep of recreational areas.
