Call to scrap Shrewsbury pay and display machines
Monday 11th July 2011, 5:47PM BST.
Business leaders in Shrewsbury today called for pay-and-display machines to be scrapped at the town’s car parks in favour of pay-on-exit barriers.
They say the pay-on-exit option would provide shoppers with more flexibility and would mean they would not have to rush back to their vehicles before their ticket ran out.
Encouraging shoppers to stay longer in the town is a priority for struggling traders who say the town is still in a “fragile” state.
The call comes after a meeting last week at which council and business leaders agreed to work together to help promote the town and encourage people to visit it.
This month Shropshire Council scrapped plans to increase parking charges for a second time this year after furious traders hit out at the proposals.
Simon Airey, president of Shrewsbury Business Cha-mber, said installing pay-on-exit parking barriers would allow people to leave when they wanted to rather than rushing if their ticket was running out.
He said: “Things are very fragile at the moment. The surface car parks need to be restructured so people pay on exit rather than worry for the last 15 minutes about whether they will get a ticket.”
John Hall, from Shop in the Loop, said such a move was important to help traders.
He said: “Pay-on-exit would be fantastic and is probably top of the list in terms of what we think should happen. They are also talking about reducing charges for particular events which would be helpful.”
Business leaders at last week’s meeting said they would look at offering parking refunds if customers buy in their stores and look at how shops can stay open longer in the town centre.
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Why not scrap all parking charges in towns, to give traders a level playing field with out of town shopping estates.
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So we scrap all the machines that have been purchased in the past & have probably a few more working years life left in them! We then purchase barriers & new ticket machines per car park at great cost to the tax payer & money we don’t currently have! We then employ people to be on call in the respective car parks to fix machines & barriers when they fail to operate! People queuing to get out but cannot as machine & barrier creating problems. The queues will grow with angry car park users wanting refunds as they have stayed longer than they initially wanted to due to the breakdowns! After charging hours do the car parks remain locked until the following day & thus prevent parking over night! Why not use the long stay car parks & then not have to rush back from shopping! If i am not mistaken, are the town centre car parks for short stay only!
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Us pedestrians don’t have to pay to use a park, Cyclists dont have to pay to use a cycle path and yet they both cater for a minority and contribute nothing financially,in fact they are a net drain on council resources.
Vehicles convey passengers loaded with cash,they spend the cash in the shops and help the shop owners to pay the not inconsiderable council tax benefiting,yes you’ve guessed,the pedestrians and cyclists.So just why are motorists penalised so unfairly when they are a net contributor to the towns economy.
I used to shop in Shrewsbury,indeed my Dentist was in Shrewsbury but I refuse to pay to spend money so there is regular net loss to one business,the dentist, The cafes and shops I used have lost out as well.
Telford town centre also lost my custom when it stopped the free car parking.
I will not pay to spend my money and take heart that the best performing shopping areas are the ones where parking is free.
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Pedestrians and cyclists don’t contribute anything financially – only motorists do? Is that really what you’re saying?
Guess what- I don’t drive but I do walk and cycle. I pay taxes. I also spend money in shops in Shrewsbury (and other places).
I think your argument is very poor!
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Poor argument, Inarticulate too.
Kat
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Question. If the council scrap the increase or lower the price for parking to help the town traders including the large stores M.S. etc, where are they going to get the shortfall from? Who is going to pay for the barriers? The ratepayers, or close another day centre. I for one don’t want to contribute to their profits unless I buy something from them. To all you shop owners we are all struggling to make ends meet, but we do not ask the council to subsidize us.
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LOL, why do we have pay to park in Town ,If thay want to make money out of us then parking must be FREE ???
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Frankly, town centre parking in Shrewsbury has become somewhat of a joke. With increasing car parking fees almost matching the decreasing number of independent retailers in Shrewsbury, it’s a simple equation.
I’ve also personally fallen foul of the dreaded machines and not getting back in time, to receive a £60 fine (well, they plucked £35 from thin air for ‘early payment’) from an *independent car parking company* from Telford. I’m guessing that the fine in its entirety was money going OUTSIDE Shrewsbury? Oh… wait… wasn’t that also the case with the subcontracted work on our ‘community’ theatre?
The questions I ask myself are:
a) Is the ridiculous price of parking an attempt to get patrons using alternative forms of transport, such as the Park & Ride system?
b) Are the costs of car parking in Shrewsbury’s centre justified as value for money? Or are we paying towards the wage of 3rd party ‘car park police’ to annoy us further?
c) Is it any surprise that there is so much non-allocated parking abuse in the town centre?
Personally, as a local businessman, I don’t wish to have to take my car, then the bus, to pop into the town to visit the bank or post office for 20 minutes. It’s illogical, a waste of time.
However, given the state of the local council’s input into the town in general—poor road surface conditions, ridiculous expenditure on ‘who needs it’ sculptures etc. etc.—the focus is always out of line with public demand or needs.
One only has to take a stroll around the two main shopping areas of the town to note the boarded-up facades and empty units. This isn’t a thriving town, it’s a town in peril.
And as for the pay-on-exit strategy, why not think harder about an end to pouring *OUR* money into pointless exercises which enrage the community, and perhaps subsidise the car parks a little to encourage people BACK into the centre.
We don’t want ‘art’, bailing out of the theatre, MORE road systems fiascos etc. We want our shopper-friendly town centre back.
And for the record, there’s talk of the new Tesco expansion ruining town centre business… Given the choices of parking in an antiquated one-way, chaotic traffic mess to pay over the odds for parking, OR parking for free at a one-stop-shop, I know where I’d be going.
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Things are different elsewhere. Parking in a run down bit of Spain is £7 a day and, in a fashionable town, £8 for two hours.
I don’t see empty car parks in Shrewsbury.
Kat
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I was rather surprised to have to pay £3.20 yesterday just to load the car ouutside my house on Wyle Cop. The one hour stay is ridicuous for people who want to comparison shop and/or have something to eat while they are in town.
Kat
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