'The last thing businesses need': Warning 'eye-watering' parking charge rises will damage Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury parking charge increases branded ‘eyewatering’ risk ‘significantly damaging’ the town, it has been claimed.

Shrewsbury BID, which represents the town’s businesses, is urging the public to respond to a consultation on Shropshire Council’s planned changes to parking charges for the town.

The BID has raised a series of concerns about the plans describing them as “the last thing that businesses need right now”.

It comes as the BID has compiled a report looking at state of parking in the town, and Shrewsbury’s economy.

The council proposals will see the charging hours extended in nearly all Shrewsbury car parks from 8am to 6pm to 8am to 8pm.

The hourly rate for Frankwell will fall from £1.20 to £1, but charges are being introduced on Sunday and bank holidays for the first time.

The hourly rate for Abbey Foregate will rise from 70p to £1, Bridge Street from £2.80 to £3.80, St Julian’s Friars from £1.40 to £2 and on-street parking from £3.60 to £4.80.

The BID said that more than nine in ten businesses surveyed expect Sunday and evening charging to have a negative impact.

The BID has also questioned Shropshire Council’s own use of Frankwell Car Park - providing workers with parking for free.

It said: “Figures from a Freedom of Information response show council staff have parked free of charge at Frankwell Main since January 2025, with a median stay of more than nine hours.

“Since the November 2025 tariff rise, staff vehicles parking free of charge have taken a third of the car park’s 650 spaces on an average weekday, peaking at more than half on one day. At the public tariff, that parking is worth around £40,000 a month.

“With 55 per cent of surveyed businesses saying car park capacity is insufficient, it would seem inconsistent to argue that charges are needed to move long-stay drivers towards alternative modes of transport, while the council’s own staff are incentivised to drive to work and park all day for free.”

The BID report says people are parking less in the town - and crucially spending less.

It said: “Comparing November to May with the same period a year earlier, the number of hours parked in the town’s council car parks fell by 9.7 per cent, around 126,600 fewer hours, while the number of transactions fell by 2.3 per cent.

“People are still coming to Shrewsbury, but they are staying for less time: one-hour stays are up, while three- and five-hour stays have fallen. At Frankwell Main, where the hourly tariff rose by 50 per cent, hours purchased fell by an average of 21 per cent year on year between March and May.”

The BID said evidence also shows a notable drop in town-centre spending in recent months - and successive falls since the last increases in parking charges in November 2025.

It said: “Shrewsbury’s town centre sales tracked above the national trend for most of 2025, but have fallen year on year in eight of the eleven months since the November 2025 increase to parking charges, and have performed below the national trend every month since March.

“Town centre spend is down 5.8 per cent so far this year, more than twice the national fall, even though footfall is up on last year. If the fall continues, around £7.9m less would be spent in the town centre over a year.”

The BID is now making four requests to the council, asking it to limit any near-term increase to a maximum of 20 per cent, to introduce maximum charges that reward longer visits, and to publish a clear timetable for the introduction of pay on exit, or a check-in/check-out system at Frankwell and Abbey Foregate.

It has also asked the council to commit to more car park capacity and associated flood resilience within two years, and address the impact of free council staff parking at Frankwell.

Seb Slater, executive director of Shrewsbury BID, said: “The council’s own parking data tells a clear story. People still want to come to Shrewsbury - footfall is holding up while it falls nationally - but they are staying for less time and spending less. That points to a local cause, and it is one that can be fixed.

"We welcome the reduction proposed at Frankwell and the return of Sunday buses, but eyewatering rises proposed in the town centre, new evening and Sunday charges and a 43 per cent increase at Abbey Foregate risks significantly damaging the town centre economy and it is the last thing that businesses need right now.

“Parking charges out of step with rival centres make Shrewsbury less competitive, and that risks deterring the new investment the town centre needs. Businesses deciding where to open or expand look closely at how easy and affordable it is for customers and staff to get here. People coming to the town are being asked to pay more and more, yet in the last ten years there has been no meaningful improvement in parking facilities or capacity in the town.

"The council has said it will consider every response before any changes are made. We would urge everyone who lives, works, shops or spends time in Shrewsbury to read the proposals and respond to the consultation before 26 November.”

Stacey Hill, owner of three Oberon shops on Wyle Cop, commented: "With the price of petrol so high, the last thing drivers want is a large parking charge on top, and it will really put people off coming into town. As a town we’re luckier than some, but it won’t take much to change that.

"People are always dashing back to their cars when really they’d like to be spending more time and money in town. Rather than a parking rise, why can't we go for one hour of free parking to encourage shoppers? If we don’t get the footfall, shops will close."

Kev Rippard, co-owner of the Salopian and the Market Hall Tavern and chair of Shrewsbury Pubwatch, stated: “For anyone working in the town centre, or planning to stay for any length of time, it’s now often cheaper to get a taxi to and from town than to park. That can’t be right.

"When parking costs more than a taxi, people either cut their visit short or don’t come at all, and the staff who keep our businesses running are left footing the bill just to get to work. The town needs a parking offer that encourages people to stay longer, not one that pushes them away.”

The consultation runs until Thursday, November 26 and is available online.

People can also send a written response directly to Shropshire Council by e-mail.

Shropshire Council has been contacted for comment.