New charges aim to boost Shrewsbury shopping

Thursday 6th October 2011, 1:05PM BST.

New charges have been introduced at two car parks in Shrewsbury in a bid to encourage shoppers to stay in the town for longer.

The pricing system at the Raven Meadows multi-storey car park and the nearby Strand car park has been changed by Shropshire Council this week.

The new pricing bands allow people to pay for each hour they park up to six hours, rather than the previous bands that started at £1.50 for one hour and then jumped to £3.50 for between one and three hours.

Councillor Simon Jones, council cabinet member for parking, said the new pricing should help encourage more drivers into the town.

“We are continuing to do what we can to encourage shoppers into Shrewsbury town centre. Adding more pricing bands at these car parks makes it simpler and fairer for drivers, so you effectively pay for what you get rather than being charged for parking time that you don’t need.

“We are listening to what people are telling us, and we will keep looking at ways of making parking charges as fair as possible,” he said.

View more: Shrewsbury news.

1
Tom

October 6, 2011 at 13:29

Too late – the town is dead – well done to you all.

Report abuse
2
John Howard

October 6, 2011 at 16:38

If it’s still £1.50 per hour then it actually costs more for three hours than it did before , i.e £4.50 instead of £3.50. When will they learn that anything over 40p per hour is a rip-off for a one-horse town like Shrewsbury? Its still cheaper to travel to Telford where I can shop in the dry.

Report abuse
3
Shropshire Lass

October 6, 2011 at 16:42

I totally agree Tom. I have long since steered clear of Shrewsbury town centre both during the day and at evenings/weekends due to the high parking charges. Why would anyone want to pay extortionate parking fees to visit a town where half the shops are empty?!

Report abuse
4
Xpistophorous

October 6, 2011 at 16:43

” We are listening to what people are telling us”? – NO YOU ARE NOT.
Free parking out of town Vs manipulation of parking charges in the town centre which amounts to the same amount paid.
Tom says it all above – RIP Shrewsbury town centre.

Report abuse
5
David, Germany

October 6, 2011 at 17:08

Five minutes past twelve Shropshire Council. It might be about five minutes to twelve for other towns, for example Market Drayton.

Report abuse
6
Ed

October 6, 2011 at 18:03

Please listen to the people of Shrewsbury. Make parking affordable and we’ll all come back. Fed up of shopping online or in Telford. Parking per hour has to be under a pound.

Report abuse
7
Colin U.

October 6, 2011 at 20:31

Of course they fail to mention the new charges.
The £1.50 for the first hour is far too much

Report abuse
8
Katherine deGama

October 9, 2011 at 05:50

I disagree. I live on Wyle Cop and don’t think the town in dead. The last time I went in to a shoe shop there were plenty of people wanting to pay 2-300 pounds.

Report abuse