Lower parking charges could benefit struggling high street, councillor claims
Changes to parking in a town have been welcomed by a Shropshire councillor.
Cllr David Turner says the revision to make parking cheaper in the Much Wenlock’s Falcons Court Car Park will help to take cars off the streets and encourage more people to visit shops, pubs and cafes.
Shropshire Council’s cabinet agreed to implement its new countywide parking strategy last month.
It is now consulting on the latest changes, which include the banding for Falcons Court Car Park in a bid to make it cheaper and more appealing for visitors to park there instead of the adjacent St Mary’s Lane Car Park.
Cllr Turner said he hopes the move will benefit the high street at a “challenging time”.
He said: “I have been campaigning for this for a long time with others and I really feel this is a step in the right direction.
“We don’t have empty shops often but at the moment the George and Dragon has been closed for a month or so, one shop at the top that used to sell candles is vacant, and we have the impending closure of Barclays Bank.
“At a time when retail and hospitality businesses are under a lot of pressure hopefully this will help.
“Much Wenlock relies on visitors from other towns so I hope our shops and cafes will encourage people to make use of Falcons Court Car Park.”
Cllr Turner added it will be important to improve signage to the car park to ensure visitors use it.
The consultation, which runs until the end of the month, is also asking people to comment on other changes.
These include allowing owners of guest accommodation to apply for season tickets that can be used in specific council car parks and introducing a flat rate tariff of £1.50 for parking on Sundays, bank and public holidays in Raven Meadows Multi-storey car park in Shrewsbury.
Consultations on other revised aspects of the strategy, including making Shrewsbury on-street charges £2.40 per hour, will be launched next week.
Following the consultation the changes will return to Cabinet for approval and be implemented by February 2019.
By Emily Lloyd, Local Democracy Reporter
