Controversial car park charges dropped for Gobowen Railway Station
Controversial plans to bring in car parking charges at a railway station that could have cost commuters £700 a year have been dropped.
Commuters and rail organisation bosses today welcomed the move by Shropshire Council to not press ahead with the charges at Gobowen Railway Station.
Currently the car park is free, and last summer plans were proposed to add charges to pay for the upkeep of the car park, which has about 100 spaces.
The station is widely used by travellers from the Oswestry area and Mid Wales.
However following a consultation with residents, commuters and stakeholders, the plans have been binned.
Sheila Dee, of the Chester Shrewsbury Rail Partnership, said the charges would have hit commuters hard and the U-turn has been welcomed.
She said: “It caused a great deal of concern locally, especially for commuters as it was found their travel bills could increase by about £700 per year.
“If people would have had to pay to park there, the cars would have spilled out on to nearby streets which I am sure would have caused even more problems.
"Also the station brings in revenue for businesses nearby. It is a popular station, people move here and use the station to commute to Chester and the Midlands, so the dropping of the idea was welcomed.”
The plans were scrapped after the consultation, and county councillor Mark Jones said the decision puts faith into democracy.
He added: “It shows that democracy works. It doesn’t all the time but in this case the people have been listened to.
“I’ve been on the fence with it, because there are two sides to the story.
“Some people leave cars there for weeks and go away, but on the other hand if it wasn’t free cars would spill out on to nearby streets.”
