Willen Lake Reviews 16

I used to visit Willen Lake regularly, but after being unfairly fined, I won’t be going back — and I’ll be warning others to stay away too.

I arrived with a friend and, as is completely normal in a Pay and Display car park, we took around 10 minutes to find a space, park properly, walk to the machine, queue and queue before buying our tickets. I also moved my car once to get a better spot.

Both of us in separate cars, paid and displayed correctly.

At the end of our visit, we returned to our cars before the ticket expired, but spent a few minutes saying goodbye, packing the car up and waiting for other cars to park as we went to the exit — again, totally normal behaviour. We left the car park around 10 minutes after the ticket time.

Despite doing everything right, we both received parking fines.

Why? Because the parking company uses ANPR cameras to time you from the moment you enter the car park to the moment you leave — not from when you buy your ticket. This means even if you pay and display correctly, you can still be fined for doing everyday things like parking, queuing, or walking back to your car.

This is not how Pay and Display car parks usually work. It’s a deliberately misleading system that punishes honest visitors and feels like a money-making trap. There was no clear warning that the timing starts before you even reach the machine — and no grace period to allow for normal use.

Nearly 3 weeks later, I’ve now been fined!! Sneaky as I no longer have my parking ticket evidence (again once you have paid and displayed and then come back to your car without a fine, you would assume all is OK).

I used to enjoy visiting this place but not anymore, I cannot afford this, THIS IS A RIP OFF BRITAIN TRAP as a family if we wanted to spend £40 we could have gone on the water course, climbing area, golf, we could have gone bowling, cinema or trampolining with the kids for this money, £40 fine for a walk, plus the real parking and cafe meal was an unexpected expensive day out.

We won’t be returning — and I strongly advise others to think twice before they do. This is sincerely an absolute trap.

Review:
We visited Willen Lake and parked in a disabled bay with a valid Blue Badge, only to be hit with a parking fine because — unlike many car parks — Blue Badge holders are still required to pay. The signage is not clear enough and feels designed to catch people out.

The management response justifies this by saying charges fund the park — but that doesn’t excuse the lack of transparency. Disabled bays should be about accessibility, not hidden traps that penalise vulnerable people and their carers.

If you’re a Blue Badge holder, beware: this isn’t a concession-friendly car park, and the “rules” only become clear after you’ve been fined.

Booked TreeTop experience for my two grandchildren. Arrived early, as advised, for booking in. Slight problem finding booking details on the computer system as the booking is listed by Christian names of the first person listed as taking part on the activity not the person who registered the booking, paid for the booking and signed the waiver document. Strange!! Activity was good value for money. So called safety staff appeared to be a bunch of students, overheard discussing exam results, some of whom had rather large egos. Most of the time that the younger children on the first level of the activity there was no safety person on the ground resulting in the problem that when children had a problem, like slipping of a section apparatus and left hanging on their safety harness, they had to wait until one of the egotists appeared and took the time to look round the route. Several other safety breaches were also noted where a safety staff member entered the activity carrying his helmet then proceed to put it on his head which was covered by a baseball cap and carried out a procedure without securing the helmet. The person in charge of the 13m drop was not secured by a harness and on every operation stood on the edge of the undated platform. I won’t expand on any more concerns other than than I was extremely distressed to watch my 7 year old granddaughter stand for 4 minutes waiting to be released from the inertia cable at the drop because there was no staff on the ground to carry out the procedure when they landed.

Worst experience ever manager mocked people with disabilities am absolutely livid... what a horrible man don't go here if you suffer from autism or have any learning difficulties was actually disgusting they way he was ... jobs worth.. no stars at all

We have been to willen lake on last year August 2024 and it was fantastic day. I have got the parking fine eventhough i paid for the parking for whole day. Getting the parking is ridicuolous and paying the fine is for paid parking is very poor. It is unbelievable.

Yh good place but WORST ever car park we ever been in UK, they use smart parking that only calculates when you enter and exit, does not even say if it is full, so basically you will drive around until u find one but ur time has already started before you even got to the parking ticket machine. They call it “smart” parking instead of “scam” parking!! Enjoy the lake now and cry later for the fine you will receive!! 😂 Dont bother even visiting the place!! There is not much of options only lake and playground which u can find anywhere in uk!! The penalty ticket will just ruin it!😂 NEVER Coming back.

Extremley disappointed with car park system which robs people.
Be careful parking in this carpark as they charge you every second soon as you enter that gate!!! Such a shame when the park is busy you drive around looking for a spot and if you dont pay soon as you enter, you would be charged! AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Unfortunately can no longer visit Willen lake due to Smart Parking robbery. I appealed a fine I received, even though I had paid for my parking, I provided them with all evidence.
I received no notice that they rejected my appeal and they then more than doubled my fine and then threatened me until I paid and there is nothing you can do about it. Avoid Smart parking zones! They will keep coming for you! I have now had two further fines and I have proof of parking for each occasion, just don’t Park using Smart parking!

BEWARE:
Smart parking over looks the parking,we paid soon as we managed to park as one payment machine was busy we walked across to the other one to get a ticket.
Any way was no longer hour half there so we paid enough on the parking metre,about 3/ 4 weeks later we get a fine from the scamming parking company SMART PARKING I appealed against as we had evidence we paid on the day on our bank statement but no that wasn’t good enough but good will they let me off £5 so instead of £25 had to pay £20 by the date on the letter but went to pay there scamming parking fine 5 days before it should be paid on the Appel let and guess what I had to pay £25 instead of the £20 so not scammed once but twice.
This parking company should be looked into by willen lakes as they will lose a lot of customers the way this scamming parking company is dealing with parking there even though customers have paid for parking.
Total scam I definitely won’t be returning to willen lakes.

I went to Willen lake splash park with my children which was really nice, I paid for parking at the machine and went home, about 5 weeks later I am issued with a parking fine, confused I turned to google and find that this has been happening for a while, people are paying at the machine and it's calculating the payment wrong, you are also unable to change it, so I tried to appeal, thinking they must be aware of the issue, but no, they denied this and made it out to be my error, which isn't even possible. This smart parking Company are nothing but thieves, stealing from honest people, I will not be returning and will never pay the fine either. Willen lake need to change companies or people will stop going there. I am amazed that nothing has been done already, you can't even contact that terrible company by phone either, so they can hide behind letters.

Willen Lake don't even know how the parking works, I posted another review and as I'm unable to respond to that one I will continue here,

You pay for parking when you leave, you can't increase or decrease the duration, nor is there any nunber to call. The appeals process is just as bad, look at their reviews, it's absolutely disgusting. I would imagine POPLA the appeals company are just as corrupt as the so called smart parking that is stealing from the people attending the lake

Absolute unethical nightmare called parking!
I can’t believe how crazy the system is! Running a ‘pay for the time you wish to park’ system but then clocking the second you drive in and out again to calculate the time you have been there. A system in which you have to essentially overpay for parking so that every second you are on the property needs to be paid for, including time to drive in and around to find a parking space, unload and then also the time it takes to leave the car park too - I’ve never come across such a ridiculous system. Other sensible car parks calculate the time you need to pay for and then allow you time after paying to get to your car and exit the car park. Or pay and display where you can take time to pay and then pack car etc when you leave. It is also illogical for people to then think . A purely money-making park company Smart Parking who are being supported by an organisation that runs it and claims to be a self-financing charity. Park with extreme care and be prepared to overpay or deal with an immoral system and company. Needless to say we won’t be returning to take the risk again or overpay to these people. You have been warned!

Really fun time at the water bouncy activity at willen lakes the two lifeguards Harry and grace that looked after us through the activity showed great respect for there jobs and the wishes of our hen do group thank you both

What an amazing day, went with the kids and went on enflatables and wake boards which ended with me on my face everything lol.
Really fun day out, very reasonably priced and the staff are great, really helpful and friendly. Definitely going to become a regular outing for us.

A lovely day out ruined by a crazy parking fine.

We queued up and made every reasonable attempt to pay. We used a debit card and authorised payment. We found out a week later that the payment had been voided. It certainly wasn't by us. Napier have not supplied any reason for the payment being voided. We paid the reduced fine in order to prevent the ludicrous escalation of the fine. Napier now regard the case as closed. Please be very careful, pay attention to your bank transactions and do not give Napier any more money.

We went down to Willen a few weeks back to take our son open water swimming. All went fine until we came back to our car in the car park where none of the parking machines were working. The only option was to download the JustPark app and pay online which we did. After the frustration of not being able to use the parking machines and in a hurry to get back home, it turned out I had inadvertently input an incorrect entry time into the app.

A week later a Fixed Charge Notice for £60 (£100 if you did not pay it promptly) arrived in the post. This was appealed and a reduced penalty of £30 was offered which has now been paid.

I am extremely disappointed in Park Trust using heavy-handed parking operators to run their parking at Willen. It is not at all welcoming & I found the whole process unpleasant.

Parks Trust - if you are going to carry on with this set-up, can you please ensure the parking meters are functioning so visitors can easily pay the appropriate fee and not have to undergo the hassle & expense that we have had to.

Not at all impressed.