21/05/2012 - Permalink

Car parking review to be discussed by scrutiny committee

Related topics: Community

A variety of proposed changes to car park charges are being considered by Shropshire Council following a review into car parking across the county.

The council’s enterprise and growth scrutiny committee will discuss the findings of the review at its meeting on Friday (25 May 2012), which include revised charging bands and introducing free parking on Sundays in some car parks.

Depending on the views of the scrutiny committee, the proposals will then go forward for consultation with parish and town councils during the summer.

The review follows the new car parking strategy introduced in April 2011, and is designed to take on board comments received by the council over the past year.  A number of changes are proposed, as outlined in the report going to the scrutiny committee.

The main proposals are as follows:

Car parks which currently have charging bands of 10p or free for 0-2 hours and £1.80 for 2-10 hours proposed to change to:

  • 10p for 0-2 hours
  • 50p for 2-4 hours
  • £1.00 for 4-6 hours
  • £1.80 for 6-10 hours

Sunday parking proposed to be free in the following car parks:

  • Market Drayton – Towers Lawn
  • Whitchurch – Newtown/St John’s Street/Brownlow Street
  • Ellesmere – all car parks
  • Wem – all car parks
  • Shifnal – all car parks
  • Church Stretton – all car parks (excludes Crossways HGV)
  • Much Wenlock – all car parks

Sunday parking proposed to move to a £2.50 flat rate in the following car parks:

  • Shrewsbury – all Shropshire Council-owned car parks
  • Ludlow – all car parks (excluding Smithfield HGV)
  • Oswestry – all Shropshire Council-owned car parks (excluding Oswald Road HGV)
  • Bridgnorth – all car parks (excluding Severn Street HGV/Innage Lane HGV)
  • Market Drayton – Frogmore/Queen Street
  • Whitchurch – Castle Hill/Pepper Street

As part of the review, it is also proposed to update ticket machines so they will be able to accept new 5p and 10p coins.

Chairman of the enterprise and growth scrutiny committee, Councillor Steve Davenport, said:

“Car park charges have understandably created a lot of debate over the past year, and I thought it was important to have a full discussion about what can be done to try to take people’s views on board.  This is what the scrutiny process is all about, and I look forward to a good debate at the meeting.  We will then take our recommendations forward for consideration by Cabinet.”

Cabinet member responsible for transport, Councillor Simon Jones, added:

“A lot of work has gone into this review and I hope it serves to alleviate some of the concerns that came about following the introduction of the parking strategy last year.  The proposed new charging bands for many market town car parks mean that people will be able to park for up to four hours for just 50p, which seems pretty reasonable to me.  I hope businesses and residents will appreciate that we are doing all we can to ensure shoppers are still able to visit their town centres without being put off by parking charges.”