Shropshire Star comment: Council needs to listen to sense on parking

Or is it not working for you? Instead, could it be working in such a way that discourages visitors and shoppers to your town, making things even tougher for town centre stores and businesses than they already are?

The new parking regime being introduced by Shropshire Council has proven controversial, as evidenced by the protests in Shrewsbury and Ludlow.

Parking charges are the sort of thing that get motorists groaning, but to have them bring people out on the streets waving placards shows just how crucial traders and members of the public feel it is to get the balance right.

Shropshire's town centres need to be treated as jewels, and golden eggs in themselves - it is not the parking charges that are the golden egg, despite the income they generate for council coffers.

Putting visitors off so that they head away from town centres and shop instead at out-of-town stores, where parking is either free or cheap, benefits only the out-of-town businesses.

And when Shropshire Council has invested tens of millions of pounds in a retail portfolio in Shrewsbury town centre, anything that discourages town centre shoppers is an act of commercial self harm, as logical as taking out a gun and shooting yourself in the foot.

There has, at least, been a last minute concession in Ludlow, which has been welcomed by local MP Philip Dunne.

He says that parking concessions for traders in the market square will remain, and parking charges will continue to apply until 6pm, rather than be extended to 8pm.

There has been a feeling in Ludlow that under the plans the town was being unfairly hit - being used as a "cash cow" as some of the protesters' placards put it.

Mr Dunne says he is pleased that Shropshire Council has listened to his concerns and those of the protesters.

Nevertheless Ludlow is still going to have parking charges in circumstances where, for instance, people can park for free if they choose to give Ludlow a miss and go to Leominster instead.

The debate has been had, views have been expressed loud and clear, and now the die is cast.

Shropshire Council will no doubt consider itself a listening council which has demonstrated its willingness to listen by the adjustments it has made to this new parking regime.

That listening should not stop once the changes are put into effect.

There should now be a "monitoring" and "review" period as, in all sorts of ways, Shropshire towns cannot afford for the balance to be got wrong.