Political row over car parking charges in Oswestry

The Conservative party on Oswestry Town Council launched a survey after the authority agreed to the rise in its annual budget in the three car parks it runs.

It said there was no consultation on the charges that included putting up charge from the first hour from 50p to £1.

The survey also asked for public comments on the introduction of a £1 all day charge for Sundays. In recent years it has been free to park on Sunday.

The charge for one to two hours is £1.50, three to four hours at £2.00 and four to six hours £3.

The Green party, which put forward the budget, has said that the survey is weighted.

Councillor Mike Isherwood said: "Keeping prices the same forever is unsustainable when costs keep rising for the Council. This is the first increase in ten years yet car park running costs have increased substantially over that time."

He said it was good to encourage shoppers/visitors to stay longer than an hour.

"Councils should be financially responsible – even if that means making unpopular choices sometimes – for the long-term good."

Conservative councillor Les Maguire, said: "We believe the rise in car park charges would be detrimental to the town centre economy and wanted to know what the public think."