Council in plans for new Cannock car parks

Staffordshire County Council is looking at plots of land within the town centre that could be transformed in car parks. Shoppers are also being asked to have their say over new plans to charge fees for on-street parking in the town.

Shopkeepers are currently being consulted and a special meeting for the general public is to be set up at Cannock Library within the month.

Councillor Pat Corfield said the authority has been seeking sites in the town to buy or rent to alleviate the problem. "We've been looking for any pockets of land anywhere in the vicinity of the town centre and contacting the owners but we've not been doing very well so far," he said.

"We want to provide adequate parking facilities so people can spend more time in the centre, which will assist shopkeepers and, in turn, help to regenerate the town.

"The problem has been getting worse with people, some of them presumably shop workers, increasingly abandoning their cars in front of people's drives in residential streets, sometimes for the whole day.

"Providing more spaces should end years of heartache and headaches for people who live near the centre and find their drives continually blocked."

County chiefs are in the process of contacting interested parties about introducing on-street parking fees.

The county council wants to bring in a six-month pilot scheme where shoppers are charged 50p to park for 30 minutes in new pay-and-display bays. The pilot scheme will see 23 bays installed in Manor Avenue, Stafford Road and Mill Street.

Members of Cannock Chase's joint parking committee, made up of district and county council members, are due to meet next week to hear an update on plans.