Shropshire Council’s Cabinet approves car parking changes

The first part of a new parking strategy that determines the way that Shropshire Council manages and runs its car parks and on-street parking – including how and what it charges for parking – has been approved by the council’s Cabinet.

A 12-week public consultation on the proposed new parking strategy ran from July to October 2017. A total of 2,486 responses and many additional individual comments were received, with more than 22,000 individual comments received in total.

A report considered by Shropshire Council’s Cabinet today looked at proposals to introduce linear parking (ie. a set price per hour) and related elements. It outlined the findings of the consultation, the resulting conclusions and the recommendations to Cabinet.

Under the new strategy, all Shropshire Council car parks and on-street parking areas will be placed into a band – from 1 to 7. There will be a set price per hour to park, depending on the band (see table below).

Band 1: £2.50 per hour, Band 2 £1.80 per hour, Band 3 £1 per hour, Band 4: 70p per hour, Band 5: 50p per hour, Band 6: 30p per hour, Band 7: Free.

Under Shropshire Council's new parking strategy there will be:
- A set price per hour to park (depending on the car park band) — making charges easier to understand

- 15 minutes 'pop and shop' free parking in all car parks/on-street parking areas

- Free parking on Sundays and bank holidays in all band 4, 5 and 6 car parks

- Free parking after 6pm in all band 3, 4, 5 and 6 car parks (other than Frankwell in Shrewsbury)

- An eight -hour cap in all band 4, 5 and 6 car parks — plus Raven Meadows in Shrewsbury

- No more short stay parking — park for as long as you wish to pay for

- Free coach parking

- New parking machines, allowing payment by card, and 'get the time that you pay for' parking

- A review of park and ride services in Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Bridgnorth

- A trial of 'check in, check out' software

- Improvements to car park layouts and surfaces

Shropshire Council's new parking strategy will mean cheaper parking for many:

In Shrewsbury: parking in Abbey Foregate, St Julian's and Frankwell for up to five hours will be cheaper than it is now.

In Oswestry: parking in Festival Square car park for up to four hours will be cheaper than it is now. Parking in Oak Street car park for up to three hours will be cheaper than it is now.

In Ludlow, parking in Smithfield car park for up to seven hours will be cheaper than it is now, and parking for 8 hours will be the same as it is now.

A full revision to the existing on street and off-street Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) will now be necessary and the required statutory TRO consultation is due to being in early March 2018.

There will then be a phased implementation programme as follows: Shrewsbury (July 2018); Ludlow (September 2018); Bridgnorth (November 2018); Oswestry (December 2018); all other areas (January 2019).

A second report outlining the conclusions and recommendations for part 2 of the strategy (relating to residents’ permits) will be presented to Cabinet during February.