New parking charges come into force in Ludlow next Monday, 19 November 2018. Shropshire Council says this will be better for Ludlow.
In the town centre, it will cost £1.80 an hour to park from 8am until 6pm, seven days. Pop and shop will be reduced from 15 minutes to five minutes. Castle Street car park charges will rise to £1 an hour and stay will be unlimited, working out at £8 a day. Around the town centre, on-street charges rise as does the maximum stay. Costs in Smithfield and Upper Galdeford car parks will go both up and down.
New residents’ permit charges will come in from Monday. The cost will be £100. There will be only one permit for each household.
This is a parking regime designed in Shirehall for towns like Shrewsbury. It will not work in small market towns like Ludlow.
Ludlow town centre is one of the small town survivors. We are one of the dwindling group of very rural towns that retains a distinctive identity. We are not a clone town of identikit shops.
But Ludlow will fail if Shropshire Council thinks we are Shrewsbury written small. We are Ludlow written large. Nothing in this new parking policy is designed to support Ludlow. The policy is all about Shirehall having a standardised regime across the county. That’s for the convenience of the administration. The new parking charges are bureaucracy overriding the needs of the local economy.
Pop and Shop
The free parking waiver is reduced to five minutes from 15 minutes. There is a statutory 10 minute grace period. But expect a traffic warden waiting around for a moment’s delay.
The new charges on-street
Red Zone on-street (see map). £1.80 an hour from 8am until 6pm, seven days. Plans to charge until 8pm have been abandoned. No maximum stay. Residents’ permits still available at £100 a year.
Blue Zone on-street. £0.70 an hour from 8am to 6pm, seven days. No maximum stay. Charge applies to the full Blue Zone where there are marked payment areas. This includes Coronation Avenue but not areas where parking is currently free. Residents’ permits still available at £100 a year.
The new charges in car parks
Castle Street Car Park. £1.00 an hour from 8am to 6pm, seven days. No maximum stay. No weekly or season tickets. Half price on Sundays and bank holidays.
Upper Galdeford (top deck). £0.50 an hour from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Free on Sundays. No maximum stay. Weekly ticket £17. Residents annual ticket for unlimited parking £320 (plus residents’ permit cost, so £420).
Upper Galdeford (lower decks) and Smithfield. £0.30 an hour from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Free on Sundays. No maximum stay. Weekly ticket £10. Residents annual ticket for unlimited parking £192 (plus residents’ permit cost, so £292).
Market waivers. The current system where traders can park their vans for £2 a day in winter and £4 a day in peak season will continue.
Blue badge parking. No change to current arrangements.
HGVs. Our only designated HGV car park is Smithfield. It will be £10 a day, with season tickets ranging from £105 for a month to £720 for a year.
Coaches. No charge for parking on Smithfield.
This Shropshire Council press release was issued too late for the weekend press.
This article has been updated to remove an earlier error.
Nothing says Happy Christmas like a hike in parking charges.
There is no mention of visitors arrangements for residents, what are the new rules?
The council will issue a separate press release on parking permits. I am expecting every property with a resident’s permit to be eligible for 200 hours of free parking for guests. Visitor permits to be available for residents that do not hold a residents’ permit at a cost of £5. But the council has not yet confirmed this.
I renewed my residents permit yesterday. Got the old price of £50. I suspect anyone renewing before Monday will get the old price.
Doesn’t that mean that the parking on Upper Galdeford is now cheaper than it used to be – at 50p/30p an hour – didn’t it used to be 50p for 30 minutes or £1.10 for an hour (I never quite understood that as it meant that to park for an hour it worked out at 55p per 30 minutes which was more than the 30 minute rate but you’d think that the longer you stayed the less it would be to encourage you to both stay longer, and also spend more money on parking).
Yes. As I say some costs are cheaper and some higher.