Parking protest to take to the streets

Jeff Anderson, from Bodytech in Mardol, Gwen Burgess from Darwin's Coffee Shop on Shoplatch and Mike Avery of Cromwells on Dogpole have joined forces to arrange the event which takes place on July 24 at 6pm.

Conscious not to upset townspeople who may not be able to take part, they will not be marching in the streets and causing an inconvenience for motorists and commuters.

Instead it is planned that a demonstration will be held in the Square.

Jeff said: "We are not protesting against the proposed changes to parking in the county, we are taking it one step further and are calling for free parking.

"This is the single most important decision which I have had to live with in the 20 years I have been in Shrewsbury and I hope that around 1,000 people will come along to the demonstration. I know there is great support for this in the town - so many people have come up to me and asked when it is going to be held.

"We have a lovely, lovely town here in Shrewsbury and we should be attracting people to it. But it seems that Shropshire Council is determined to go another way.

"This will not be a march - rather a static display of how people feel. It will be very powerful. People should bring banners to hold and let the council know what they think.

"I know free parking sounds a bit rash but it would be for around two hours and it would have to be enforced. We are not going to debate on how much people should pay to park in Shrewsbury - instead it should just be free for a set time. Of course, this would not bring the council any money.

"I am hoping this will send a very strong message to Shirehall that we will not be messed around. Everyone is coming together as one group on this. Together we are stronger than standing alone."

A previous march, organised by former Shrewsbury Mayor, Councillor Jane Mackenzie, held last month attracted a number of demonstrators.

Shropshire Council wants to increase the cost of most car parking in the county, with parking restrictions being extended and the popular Pop and Shop scrapped.

Cabinet members agreed earlier this year that parking and permits across the county would follow a ‘linear’ tariff, with all car parks and on-street provision sorted into seven bands.