This is a summary of all the changes (I think) to car parking charges in Ludlow from this morning. Shropshire Council has made it clear there will be no leeway for people that misunderstand the new rules. Be careful about pop and shop, which is now cut to five minutes plus a ten-minute observation time. The system has also gone largely digital. The cost of residents’ permits is now £100, three times the West Midlands average of £35. Only one permit is allowed for each household and only for a vehicle registered at that address.
Residents’ permits
All permits are now digital and you must apply online. If you can’t cope with online purchases, the customer service point in the Library will help. The distinction between Red Zone and Blue Zone permits currently in place will remain.
Only one permit will be allowed for each household. “The vehicle registered on the Residents On-Street permit must be kept at the address of the permit holder.” See terms and conditions. The council will issue permits if the address is validated by a council tax reference. There will be no check on whether the vehicle identified in the permit is registered at the address, or is a lease or a company car. So why does process a digital permit cost £100? Answers on a postcard…
Residents’ on-street. £100 per year (up from £50).
Residents’ off-street. Galdeford Zone A (Upper) car park: £320 per year. Galdeford Zone B (Lower) and Smithfield: £192 per year. The council has set a cap on the number of tickets at 127 across the three car parks.
All extant permits will be valid until their expiry.
The average cost of a residents’ parking permit across the West Midlands is £35. Read more…
Pop and shop cut to five minutes
We can expect bonanza of fines after the council cut its flagship 15-minute pop and shop policy to five minutes. The council says there is also ten-minute observations period. That’s the ten minutes when an enforcement officer hovers over your car waiting for you to overstay by one second. I asked political leaders to issue warnings rather than fines in the first week. That was ruled out by officers. Read more…
On Street Charges
Shropshire Council has backed down on its plans to charge on street in the Red Zone until 8pm in the evening. But charges on street will shoot up. There will be no maximum stay but charges will be capped at eight hours.
Red Zone. £1.80 an hour from 8am until 6pm, seven days.
Blue Zone £0.70 an hour from 8am until 6pm, seven days.
Parking waivers for builders, etc. Green waiver: £10 per day per vehicle for permission to park in any on street pay and display bay, limited-waiting bay, loading bay, resident-only bay, or in a council surface car park. Red waiver: £15 per day per vehicle for permission to park on double/single yellow lines or in a disabled bay. Health and care professionals: £15 annually. See waiver FAQs.
Car Parks
Paper tickets will be available for hourly and weekly parking. Monthly, quarterly and yearly digital season tickets must be purchased online. See digital FAQs.
All car parks now have cashless and ticketless parking facilities through the MiPermit app but will still accept cash. No change given but if you have to round up, say from 70p to £1, you will be credited with the extra time. With MiPermit, you can book an SMS 20 minutes before expiry. There is no date yet for pay on introducing pay on exit so that you don’t have to worry about overstaying.
Castle Street Car Park. £1.00 an hour. Maximum £8.00. Charges 8.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Saturday. Half price on Sundays and public holidays. No maximum stay. No season tickets.
Galdeford Zone A (Upper). Top deck. £0.50 an hour. Maximum £4.00. Charges 8.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Saturday. Free on Sundays and public holidays. No maximum stay. Season tickets £17.00 weekly, £58 monthly, £150 quarterly, £250 six monthly or £400 yearly.
Galdeford Zone B (Lower). £0.30 an hour. Maximum £2.40. Charges 8.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Saturday. Free on Sundays and public holidays. No maximum stay. Season tickets £10.00 weekly, £35 monthly, £90 quarterly, £150 six monthly or £240 yearly.
Smithfield. £0.30 an hour. Maximum £2.40. Charges 8.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Saturday. Free on Sundays and public holidays. No maximum stay. Season tickets £10.00 weekly, £35 monthly, £90 quarterly, £150 six monthly or £240 yearly.
HGV Digital Season Ticket (Smithfield). £10 24hr; £105 monthly; £270 quarterly; £450 six monthly or £720 yearly.
Coaches (Smithfield). Free.
Blue Badge holders. Standard charges with one hour added for free.
Motorcycles free in marked bays otherwise charges apply.
Motorhomes allowed in all car parks. Standard charges will apply for each bay occupied.
Park and ride. Still free. Charges apply on the bus to town.
Visitors
Ludlow Hotel & Guest House owners. Digital tickets only. Galdeford Zone A: all hours: £58 monthly, £150 quarterly, £250 six monthly or £400 yearly. Galdeford Zone B and Smithfield: all hours: £35 monthly, £90 quarterly, £150 six monthly or £240 yearly.
Residents. Visitors scratchcards are no longer available. Households with a residents’ permit will get a free allowance of 200 hours a year for on street parking. This is digital, which means that each visitor must be registered online along with the period for which they will be on-street. Residents without their own parking permit can apply for 200 hours free for visitors for £5. Again, the process is entirely online. All extant scratchcards will be valid until their expiry.
Quite often would pop down to Ludlow walk around this lovely town bit of shopping and a coffee.
Will have to find somewhere else to visit now. Too expensive to park in your town.
Hope I’m the only one to complain otherwise more shops will close down.
John
Just a couple of questions if you could kindly answer please. There has been no information supplied by Shropshire Council. Thank-you in anticipation.
Are we able to use up the scratch visitors permits that we still have?
Will unused hours of free visitors parking included in the residents permits be able to be carried forward to the next year?
What happens if a visitor arrives and my internet connection is down, or it’s a day when the service desk is closed?
I shall certainly be using the four books of visitor scratch cards sold to me on Friday by the Council with nary a word of warning about the imminent change to digital visitor registration. If they are withdrawn (surely not even SCC can be that foolish?), then the Ombudsman may well be interested here in corporate incompetence or even deceptive practice.
I got clarification this morning that all existing scratchcards and permits are valid until they expire. Sorry not to have this info earlier
Thanks for the comprehensive info, Andy.
It’s worth noting that the ability to park for half an hour in town no longer exists – therefore half an hours arming in town has increased from 30p to 1.80.
Also, It would be interesting to know what increase, if any, has been imposed on market traders in The Castle Street car park.
No increase for market traders. They were to be banned to Galdeford B or Smithfield but that idea was axed in cabinet.
Shropshire Council are trying to sell the idea that all the parking increases in the county are the same?? NOT TRUE. St Julians in Shrewsbury has increased by 11% for a three hour stay. Castle Square in Ludlow has increased by 82% for a two hour stay. The Linney, Ludlow (on street) has increased by a whopping 405% for an all day stay. There is no parity. Are Shropshire Council now trying to close our wonderful market town down??