'Pop and shop' free parking to be expanded

1 day ago

Gavin McEwan,Local Democracy Reporting Service, Herefordshireand

Caroline Gall,West Midlands

News image — Higher charges for parking at council-run car parks was first announced last month

Google The image shows Broad Street in Hereford. Some cars are parked on the left outsides shops/businesses and there are some empty shops on the right hand side. The street is wide and most building are white/cream in colour. A church tower/spire can be seen at the end of the street. — Higher charges for parking at council-run car parks was first announced last month

A 30-minute free parking scheme is to be expanded to more areas in Hereford following criticism from businesses about planned increases in parking charges across the city.

Last month Herefordshire County Council announced the planned introduction of a half-hour "pop and shop" allowance at all council car parks.

The authority also announced an 8-10% rise in parking fees, which has now been confirmed at 10% by council leader Jonathan Lester after a meeting on Friday.

However, he said the free parking scheme could be extended to on-street parking with the change being brought in across the city from April.

The council is trying to bridge a £30m funding gap and the 8-10% rise would be about 15p extra for an hour's parking.

Chief executive of Hereford BID (business improvement district) Mike Truelove said after the announcement in January the increase was "staggering", although the council said if tariffs had increased in line with inflation since 2023, the cumulative rise would have been around 17%.

A petition launched by Hereford BID calling for the free parking to be extended to 10 central streets, has gained over 700 signatures.

Lester confirmed the cost to the council of the free parking "will be met through increased activity and because we're proposing a 10% increase".

He added the proposal "recognises that if people want to pop to Maylord Orchards and they're parking at Maylords, they can have that half-an-hour free".

"It doesn't mean to say that they're going to make it all the way across town. But it's an important message that we want to support trade and our economy," he said.

But Lib Dem councillor Ben Proctor said: "I challenge anyone, apart from possibly councillor Hurcomb, to park at Maylord, walk to the Hereford post office, queue up, post a parcel, walk back and be safely done in 30 minutes."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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