Parking struggles leave businesses wanting change in medieval town

Finding a parking spot in a medieval tourist town that is almost entirely encircled by England's longest river is no easy job.

Parking capacity in this town is often challenging during the summer months, not just for me but plenty of drivers, especially when events are taking place.

Could there be better news to come? A review into how, and where, shoppers and tourists park when they visit Shrewsbury and the wider county is being carried out by Shropshire Council.

But the authority is being warned against "another draconian fare increase" by the town's leading business group - and at the same time being asked to improve car parks, so visitors stay longer and spend more in the area.

Seb Slater is from Shrewsbury Business Improvement District (BID), which represents more than 500 local businesses and works on their issues.

He wrote to the council in June to raise concerns about the effects on the town's economy from the last increase in charges.

Data acquired by the BID suggested that the length of time people stayed and the number of tickets purchased at one of the town's largest car parks, dropped when a 50% fare increase was introduced in November.

By May, Frankwell car park had seen a 21% drop in hours purchased and 11% fewer transactions.

Other car parks had varying fare increases last year, Slater said, following a three-year freeze to charges.

Time is money, goes the saying and for Slater, it is especially true with this issue: "If people are spending less time here then they're spending less money, and that's what we're concerned about.

"If people come to a car park and they're used to paying 80p an hour and it's suddenly £1.20, they might stay three hours instead of four.

"When charges are increased, there is a shock impact, so we are warning against any other changes."

There was little evidence to suggest that visitors were persuaded to use more sustainable travel instead, such as bikes or buses, Slater claimed, but he did say the town's park and ride sites saw "a small increase".

The council was also urged by the business group to explore new ways to improve the town's car parking, such as pay-on-exit technology and "car park decking," which would see extra floors added to ground-level car parks.

When the review ends, a report will be considered by council leaders later this year, the authority says.

Parking charges were "highly competitive" with other similar towns and cities across the country, a spokesperson claimed.

But due to government transport funding not keeping pace with rising costs, other sources of income were needed to support stretched budgets, they added.

Shrewsbury BID also raised concerns with the council over the number of its staff that park for free at Frankwell, next to the authority's main headquarters.

Slater claimed as many as 320 spaces a day, about half of the number of parking spaces available, were occupied by council staff, costing, he claimed, the authority about £40,000 a month in lost revenue.

The council moved to the Guildhall from its former headquarters at the end of 2024 to save thousands of pounds a year in energy costs.

Staff that worked out of Shirehall, located a mile outside of the town, benefited from free parking.

The council told the BBC it had made parking arrangements for staff working from the Guildhall as part of wider work to reduce the size and cost of its office estate.

"It is important to note that staff parking at Frankwell has not affected overall usage by the public and has instead used previously spare capacity," they countered.

Despite parking concerns being raised by the town's businesses, Shrewsbury is performing well on visitor numbers, with footfall up by 0.4% in the first six months of the year, although spending in the town centre is down 5.1%.

The council figures suggest more people are visiting Shrewsbury compared to last year, but staying for less time and spending less while they are there.

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