Car park charges and limits being reviewed

Temporary changes to car parking limits and charges are being explored in a bid to ease the pressure on people who need to park in public car parks to work from home.

Councillor Peter Nutting, leader of Shropshire Council, said the reduction in people driving to work had left some towns with more cars than spaces, despite far fewer visitors and shoppers.

But the council is reluctant to grant motorists a temporary free pass to use the car parks without paying, for fear it would lead to people flouting the government’s lockdown rules.

Councillor Nutting said he would be discussing the issue urgently with highways chiefs and hoped to be able to announce new measures for stay-at-home workers in the coming days.

He said: “It’s a difficult one. We want people to be able to use the car parks but we don’t want to encourage people to be out and about in their cars unnecessarily.

“It’s not so much of a problem in Shrewsbury but in some of the market towns a lot of residents don’t have off street parking.

“They use the car parks overnight but then during the day they are usually not at home.

“Now so many people are working from home they haven’t got enough space without using the car parks, so they find themselves having to pay.”

Councillor Nutting said the problem was most prevalent in Ellesmere and Wem, but was also affecting people in Ludlow and Bridgnorth.

“We are considering what we can do about it,” said Councillor Nutting.

“That is today’s challenge. There is something different every day.”