Free parking in Oswestry for fortnight to give shops a boost

The decision by Oswestry Town Council, which operates Central, Smithfield Road and The Horsemarket car parks, will bring it in line with the Shropshire Council decision to cut charges at its sites across the county from April 12-25.

The aim is to encourage shoppers back to the high streets.

While councillors voted for the free parking, saying that otherwise the disparity would confused drivers, there was some concern about the loss of income to the council.

It’s deserted car parks have lost the council about £8,000 a week.

Councillor Sandy Best said: “We rely on that car park income and we have lost substantial amounts of money on our car parks over the last year. We don’t get any help for lost income.”

However Councillor Peter Cherrington said that supporting shops was paramount at the moment.

“We need those shops on our High Streets so if the free car parking helps we should let it go through.”

Incentive

Helping the economy was also brought up by Councillor John Price who said Oswestry’s Business Improvement District had found that the free parking leading up to Christmas had been a great success encouraging shoppers into the town.

There was a call from Councillor Mike Coppock to ensure that the incentive of the free parking was advertised widely to get more people shopping in Oswestry.

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming our customers back to Oswestry," he said.

“And we also need to ensure those who may not normally come into town know that there is free parking to encourage them to come and see what Oswestry has to offer.”

Several councillors including the mayor, Councillor Duncan Kerr, said that there should also be an incentive for people coming into town on the bus.

He said Shropshire Council should remember those who used public transport.

But Councillor Vince Hunt said every bus journey was already subsidised by the unitary authority.