The leader of Shropshire Council has admitted the authority may have made a mistake in hiking the cost of car parking in Shrewsbury.
Councillor Keith Barrow made the remarks at a special meeting of the Action for Shrewsbury! campaign group at the Mytton and the Mermaid hotel in Atcham last Wednesday.
During the meeting Councillor Barrow came under attack from traders, who said high prices were driving customers out of town to areas such as the Meole Brace Retail Park.
“We may not have got the car parking right,” he said. “I think we’ve got Sunday charges wrong and I’m willing to have a look at that with traders.”
But he added price structures were unlikely to change given the economic climate.
Councillor Barrow told traders the council was not making any extra revenue from the new charges, which back into a pot for road maintenance.
He went on to say he would meet with business owners to discuss a possible amnesty days on charges.
“There is no way we can change the basic pricing structure, but there is some flexibility with changing parking charges on Sunday,” he added.
The head of Shrewsbury Tourism, Michael Connor, leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, Councillor Peter Nutting, and head of Shropshire Tourism Association, Simon McCloy were at the meeting.
Mr McCloy said: “We need an outrageous re-brand of the town to get the message out.”
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Barrow said: “I think the decline in people visiting town centres is down to a combination of many factors, not just car park charges. We are looking at parking charges to see if there is anything further we can do to help.”
by Catherine Ferris