Telford Shopping Centre parking fees will go up from Monday by between 10p and £1, its new owners said today. They insist the charges are still among the most competitive in Shropshire.
Hark and Apollo, which bought the centre last June for £450 million, also say car crime has been significantly reduced through better lighting, security patrols and CCTV cameras.
It has just completed the first full review of parking tariffs since the spring of 2006.
In all car parks at the centre, it will mean an extra 10p on one and two-hour stays and an extra 20p for three-hour stays.
Charges for stays of more than three hours will go up by 50p at long-stay car parks and £1 at short-stay car parks.
Meanwhile, centre bosses have announced the conclusion of a long-term improvement programme for car park security.
Since receiving the “Park Mark”, the British Parking Association’s secure parking award, on all car parks for the last five years, the centre has continued to invest in improved lighting, dedicated security patrols and CCTV.
Car parks manager Glynn Morrow said all this had led to no cases of car crime in the Cherry Pink and Yellow Beech car parks in 2007, while all other car parks in the centre had proved more secure than the national average.
The new short-stay tariffs from Monday will be 50p (unchanged) for 30 minutes, £1.10 for an hour, £1.60 for two hours, £2.20 for three hours and £6 for over three hours. Long-stay car park charges are 50p, £1.10, £1.60, £2,20 and £3 respectively.
Hark and Apollo hopes to transform Telford Shopping Centre with a £1 billion scheme.
7 Comments
It’s still cheap and good value [if you like hoards of chavs, pregnant schoolgirls and an abundance of women’s clothes shops]. What irks me, though, is the lack of facilities for me to leave my horse somewhere safe when I arrive in my traditional manner.
There has to be a pattern to this - they’re pushing out the short-visit car shopper, they’re pushing out the lower-income family, they’re stinging the middle-income people who shop there. Its not competitive with the likes of Wellington except when it rains.
The place is untidy, unsafe (get some cameras by the bus station rats-alley!)_and real shops are still shutting. ‘can do better’.
The new owners have listened to what shoppers want and as a result have raised parking charges despite the general opinion being that the parking charges a bad thing.
I dare say a lot of the Chavs are within walking distance of the centre and if not, are happy to wait for their Taxi’s outside Asda whilst they blow their cigarette smoke all over you … that’s if you can manage to dodge their kids or the shopping trolley they don’t care if you walk into.
Personally I only go into Telford TC when I *REALLY* need something. Can’t wait for the improvements to start.
Why bother using the place at all? Surely everything that you can buy there, you can also get around locally, even Shrewsbury is not that far away for those with cars (If you don’t have a car the increase in parking charges won’t affect you) I boycotted Telford Town Centre when they brought out the parking charges and have not missed it one bit, not liable to be going back soon either by the looks of it!
I reckon they have had to put the prices up to regain the losses now fewer cars park since the last price hike. Anyone can notice that there are a lot more spaces on the car parks than there were a few years ago when parking was free. Drive past the centre on a weekend then drive past all three big retail parks. See the difference for yourself. I bet some of the big stores in the centre can’t wait until there leases are up, then its relocate, relocate, relocate. This will leave the new owners with a big 450 million pound empty warehouse.
parking fees were introduced almost 5yrs ago, which was the day I migrated to the US.
Over here shopping malls and centres do not have parking charges, most hospitals unless they are down town in a large city don’t charge to park either.
Sadly the British motorist is ripped of something rotten. If people stopped going to Telford town Centre shopping the parking fees would soon disappear.