Shropshire Star

Car parking charges 'walk a tightrope', say councillors

Car park charges have to walk a tightrope between encouraging shoppers into towns and providing enough income to run council services, councillors have said.

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Oswestry town council's markets and car parks committee met last night to discuss charges on its three sites, Central, Smithfield and Horsemarket car parks.

Councillors approved a 10p drop in the cost of parking for an hour – just 50p – in the Central car park. But, that will be balanced with a rise from 80p to £1 for one to two hours.

Mayor, Councillor Chris Schofield, said: "Oswestry is bucking the trend in plans to lower car park charges. May other towns are increasing prices at the moment. I feel we should do all we can to encourage people to come into the town centre."

The committee was told that 38 per cent of tickets sold in Central car park last year were zero to one hour ones with 48 per cent the one to two-hour tickets.

Only 12 per cent of tickets issued are for two to four hours and just two per cent for four to six hours.

Councillor Martin Bennett said: "We, like all local authorities, have to walk a tightrope between competitive parking rates to encourage shoppers into the towns and bringing in income to finance initiatives such as Christmas Live and our markets, to make Oswestry a good place to visit.

"We have not had an increase in car park charges since 2011."

Councillors said most people were happy with the cost of car parking in Oswestry. "People I talk to are amazed at how cheap the cost of parking is," Councillor Cynthia Hawksley said.

The total income from the Central car park for 2013/14 was £431,461, an increase of 4.3 per cent over last year. In all, 552,875 tickets were issued for the car park.

Income from the Horsemarket was £83,413 and from Smithfield Street, £87,567.

But town clerk, Mr David Preston, told councillors the increase was not a true reflection of the shopping habits.

"We have to remember that this year's winter was very mild in comparison to the previous year, when the snow stopped people getting into Oswestry," he said.

Across the county parking charges vary. In Ironbridge plans have been unveiled to increase fees to use car parks by about 20 per cent. Telford & Wrekin Council is looking to bridge a £22 million cash deficit over the next two years.

From May 16, visitors will pay £2.90 to park all day at the town's car parks – a rise of 50p – while a 30-minute stay will rise by 10p to 80p. A £1 charge will also be introduced for the park and ride service.

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