Shropshire town evening car parking charges ‘not certain’
The leader of Shropshire Council has said there is 'room for manoeuvre' on controversial plans to introduce evening car parking charges in market towns.
Councillor Peter Nutting's comments come after the council was handed a 3,000-strong petition from Market Drayton residents at a meeting on Thursday.
Geoff Vernon, chairman of the Festival Drayton Centre in Market Drayton, handed the petition to councillors and urged members to reconsider their draft car parking strategy.
He said the plans would deal a "savage blow" to the town and other smaller market towns around the county.
The proposals have been met with criticism, although the council has argued that the strategy makes it easier for people to understand how much they pay for parking.
The draft plans include introducing different cost bands for car parks, and a ‘linear’ pricing system that charges the same amount per hour but works out more expensive for longer stays.
Mr Vernon added: "The townspeople are livid. Festival Drayton Centre is a financial asset to the town which receives no revenue and is run by more than 100 volunteers.
"Shortly after the consultation was launched, a petition was launched which has since been signed by thousands of people, almost exclusively users of the centre, who clearly do not want these changes."
He suggested leaving the car parks free in the evening but charging on a Sunday as an alternative.
Councillor Nutting added: "This is a consultation that is still ongoing and we have yet to make any decisions.
"I have been going out to many of the towns in the county and do have some sympathy. I wonder whether it's appropriate to bring in evening charges in market towns. We may not actually gain much from it apart from upsetting a lot of people.
"There is some hope here and there is some room for manoeuvre with evening charges."
For Frankwell Car Park in Shrewsbury the changes would see people charged £7 to park for 10 hours. Currently a 10-hour stay costs £4.
If introduced the changes could also see the end of the 15-minute ‘pop and shop’ grace period, and Shrewsbury’s £1 to park on Sundays offer – a move which has been described as potentially “disastrous”.
There has also been criticism from other groups, including bosses at Bridgnorth Medical Practice. They have concerns that some staff who work at the Northgate Health Centre for more than ten hours will be charged at least £7 a day – more than double the £3 it costs currently.
The proposals will be discussed by Shropshire Council's cabinet in January.
