Rise in Shrewsbury parking fees would be ‘disastrous’

Around 50 business representatives attended a meeting arranged by Shrewsbury’s Business Improvement District (BID), where they told council officials of their worries over planned changes to parking charges in the county.

Shropshire Council is proposing a number of alterations to the way people are charged to park, including introducing different cost bands for car parks, and a ‘linear’ pricing system, that charges the same amount per hour, but works out more expensive for longer stays.

If introduced the changes could also see the end of the 15-minute ‘pop and shop’ grace period, and Shrewsbury’s £1 to park on Sundays offer – a move described as potentially “disastrous” by one business owner.

Dilwyn Jones, owner of the Sabrina Boat River Tours in the town said: “Things like the £1 Sunday parking, that was a real achievement for the BID, one of my worries is I think they will see the BID has failed if that disappears.

“It would be disastrous for the town if that disappears, people are really concerned.”

George Candler, Shropshire Council’s director of place and enterprise, had given a presentation at the meeting, which took place at The Guildhall, and told those present that their concerns would be considered as part of the consultation.

Several business owners voiced worries about the increased cost of parking into the evening and the potential impact on their staff, and the amount of people visiting the town.

Mr Jones said: “I would not increase my boat tours by that much because I would be out of business. You talk about generating more money but can you afford to lose people and business rates as a result.

“McDonalds, I am just guessing but that was probably £150,000 to £200,000 in business rates a year. There are shops empty and surely we should be feeling this and encouraging people to come into the town?”

Other concerns raised were the potential to push people out into Shrewsbury’s residential areas to park and charging for coaches to visit the town, which are currently allowed to stop for free.

One person attending said: “We are known as a coach friendly town, as a result people bring their buses here rather than elsewhere . Those people then spend the day in Shrewsbury, spending money and enjoying what we offer. We will kill that dead.”

In response Mr Candler said: “We recognise the importance of coach travel to Shrewsbury, it is a proposal at the moment, we are getting feedback on that and we do need to consider it very carefully.”

There were also calls for improvements to Shrewsbury’s park and ride system with complaints that it is too infrequent and that that packed buses would put people off using it.

Councillor Steve Davenport, the cabinet member for highways told those present that the changes are being introduced to make more money but that the money would be reinvested. He emphasised that the matter was at consultation stage.

He added: “This truly is a consultation, we are listening and we do want to understand.”

Shrewsbury BID is expected to release its own report on the proposals in the coming weeks.