Parking fees face 20% rise

Shrewsbury's Park and Ride service and town centre car parks could see a price rise of up to 20 per cent under plans unveiled by the borough council.Officials want to increase parking charges to reduce the number of cars going into the town centre.

They want to raise the cost of the bus service by 20p to £1.20 from March 31 as well as increasing the cost of parking in town centre short stay car parks for up to one hour from £1 to £1.20.

Parking for up to two hours will go up from £2.20 to £2.50 - a 13.6 per cent increase.Charges for season permits for off street car parks will go up by five per cent.

Councillors will consider ratifying officer recommendations at a cabinet meeting on Monday.

Assistant council manager Andy Goldsmith said the council would not make a profit from the increases because it was about "striking a balance."

Sustainable

Mr Goldsmith said char- ges were going up on only two tariffs in three car parks - Bridge Street, St Austin's and The Tannery.

He said: "This has been out to consultation and will come back on Monday to be ratified. We needed to increase Park and Ride - it has not been increased for four years and we need to make it sustainable.

"Parking charges increase every year. This increase is only on short stay. All other charges will stay the same.

"You can still come in and park in the Frankwell car park for three hours for £2.30 and in Abbey Foregate for £1.40 for three hours, so it's making car parks in the town centre more expensive than those on the edge."

He added: "The number of people using the car parks has reduced whereas Park and Ride has increased. The- re is a desire to reduce the amount of traffic entering the town centre but we also want a vibrant town centre.

"We do not want to price people out of the town but there is a wish to use public transport more and reduce the volume of traffic."

But Karen Lloyd, of the Civic Society, said the price hike was bad for tourism and residents who park in the town. She said: "It's one more nail in the coffin for shopping in the town centre. It's encouraging people yet again to use out of town sites."