Sunday parking fees on the way out
Sunday parking charges could be scrapped in six Shropshire towns from December, it was revealed today.
Shropshire Council is looking to axe Sunday charges in Market Drayton, Whitchurch, Ellesmere, Wem, Church Stretton and Much Wenlock. The council also wants to reduce Sunday parking prices by 50 per cent in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Ludlow.
In Market Drayton, Ellesmere, Wem and Whitchurch it currently costs up to £1.80 to park on Sundays, with maximum charges of £3 in Much Wenlock and £3.60 in Church Stretton in place.
In Shrewsbury, it costs between £2.70 and £8 to park for up to 10 hours on a Sunday, up to £3 in Bridgnorth, between £2 and £4.80 in Ludlow and £6.50 for up to four hours in Oswestry’s Festival Square.
The council has admitted the new strategy, which would also see free parking in every council-owned car park on bank and public holidays, will cost it more than £200,000 in lost income.
As part of the overhaul, a new pricing structure would also be introduced for parking on selected council car parks from Monday to Saturday, replacing the current system in places such as Oswestry, Ludlow, Bridgnorth, Market Drayton and Whitchurch where parking is free for the first hour, 10p for up to two hours and £1.80 for up to 10 hours.
The change would see up to two hours of parking costing 10p, four hours 50p, six hours £1 and a charge of £1.80 for up to 10 hours. Sunday on-street parking charges for Shrewsbury and Ludlow could also be brought in. If the overhaul goes ahead, new charges would apply from December 3.
The move is expected to result in a loss of income of £218,000, with £151,000 of this coming from the 50 per cent reduction in Sunday parking costs in Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth and Ludlow.
The council’s enterprise and growth scrutiny committee is to discuss the proposals today, before the plans go in front of the council cabinet on October 17 for approval.
Comments for: "Sunday parking fees on the way out"
jeffb
I have just spent 2 weeks in the loire valley in france and not once did we have to pay to park our car,as for charging to park so that you can go into shops was treated with disbelief when I told my French friends.
ceri
What would jeffb's french friends say about the cost of visiting sick relative's in hospital. Will this shame the hospital managers into a change of heart with regard to their proposed parking charges? Probably not
DaveA
No chance...Taxing the sick twice is all part of the game plan.
Will probably double it on a Sunday because of the greater number of visitors and "I forgot"!! appoint another Manager to oversee the change.
Lance Taylor
come to Dublin, 3euro an hr here
shropshirelad
As someone who lives in France I can say all Hospital car parking is free and in the larger towns you can park for up to 1 hour for free on a public car parks and also for free between 12midday and 2pm (the French lunch time period) outside these times it's usually a couple of euros for about 4 hours. Of course it's always free on the side streets!
Ed Austin
So Shropshire Council preside over a postode lottery. SY11 you pay less, SY1 you get hammered. I park on a yellow line as they don't apply Sundays. £2 or so/hr to park in the week is just crazy and unaffordable, I object to paying for car parks that we have paid for many times over, so I simply don't bother going into Shrewsbury any more, I shop at Lidl or Tesco where I can park for free, or at the nice shops in Oswestry (much cheaper to park there) and do the rest online, as I can get everything that I want. Really sorry Shrewsbury shopkeepers but it's the Council's fault for extortionate unaffordable and unjustified pricing and until they make their rip off prices cheaper I'm not coming back.
Merc
The wardens are out in the evenings now in Shrewsbury town centre. Putting the boot into the evening economy and achieving nothing except a few wretched quid for the pot and leaving a lot of disgruntled motorists who won't return once they've spread the word about their experience. What is it about the Anglo Saxon psyche that we can't just chill out and relax with each other instead of heaping constant pressure on ourselves when we actually don't need to? Anyway, if the local Chamber of Commerce aren't aware of this they need to know because some of their members are being hurt by the desperation of the council bean-counters.