Details on new parking machines revealed
New solar-powered "intelligent" parking meters are set to be rolled out across the county throughout next year.
More details have come to light about plans for the future of parking in Shropshire, as a consultation on Shropshire Council's new "parking strategy" continues.
Debate has focussed on changes to parking charges, which the authority hopes to standardise across council car parks and on-street bays in market towns all over the county.
But the planned changes will also include the roll out of more high-tech pay and display machines that will accept credit card and contactless payments as well as cash.
As long as the draft plans are not radically changed following the current consultation, the new machines are likely to be rolled out along with changes to car parking charges in five phases, it has been revealed.
The upgrade in Shrewsbury is expected to start in December and go live by May.
Phase two will start in Ludlow in March and go live by July; phase three will start in Bridgnorth in May and go live by September 2018; phase four will start in Oswestry in June and go live in October 2018; and all other areas will start July and go live November 2018.
The council's draft parking strategy report says: "The programme is phased so as to implement with the highest parking activity areas first."
But it says the dates for the roll out are provisional and liable to change.
"Further early release of funding provision for the required new machines could facilitate acceleration of the implementation programme," it says.
