VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Taking in some of the activities in Vancouver’s parks is going to cost you more, starting this weekend.

The cost of parking at most Vancouver parks is increasing, as are fees for taking the Bright Nights Christmas train, swimming and skating.

Parking at Jericho Beach will cost an additional $4 a day. The hourly cost of parking at Stanley Park in the winter months is going up by 50 per cent.

Renting golf clubs is going up by 33 per cent.

But park board vice-chair Aaron Jasper says the parking fees were increased at Jericho to make the price more uniform with those at Kits and Sunset Beaches.

“We are trying make our parking system more consistent across the city. So, no matter where you go in the park system, the parking rates are more in line with other parks of the city.”

He stresses other fee increases, for the most part, have been kept to a minimum.

“In areas that we deem to be our core business, recreational programs, we’ve been able to hold the increases  for the most part to two per cent, which really just covers the inflationary costs,” he explains.

He points out the park Flexi-pass prices stay the same.

Usually fee increases hit users in January, but Jasper says from now they will happen in September, to coincide with the start of a new school year.