Barely a car in sight - Dudley's car parks on a Saturday, a year after charges were introduced
Looking for somewhere to park on a Saturday afternoon? You're spoiled for choice. As long as you don't mind paying.
A year on from Dudley Council's decision to end free parking, it looks like shoppers are voting with their feet.
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On a Saturday afternoon, traditionally the busiest time of the week for shoppers, hundreds of parking spaces lie empty on three of the town centre's main car parks, with just the odd car to be seen.
The new parking charges were introduced in October last year, ending the two hours' free parking which had been in place on all the borough's car parks. Council leader Councillor Patrick Harley said the charges were reluctantly being introduced because of pressures on council budgets. This month, a new 50p rate was introduced for the first half hour's parking, but our pictures taken on Saturday afternoon last week suggest this is doing little to bring people back into town.
Flood Street 'Zone 1' car park, in the heart of town, was almost deserted when we visited, with just six cars using the 84 spaces at the time of our visit.
The same number of cars can be seen in the 142-space Flood Street 'Zone 2' car park opposite the new Duncan Edwards Leisure Centre. An occupancy rate of about six per cent for the whole Flood Street area, next to where the new tram terminal will be.
At the top of town, there are two car parks either side of Pitfield Street, just behind the Asda supermarket. One car was parked on the southern side of the road, while the one on the northern side of the road was completely empty. The area was far from deserted though, with cars parked nose-to-nose in Pitfield Street and Greystone Street, which benefit from free on-street parking.
Just below Pitfield Street is the vast Stafford Street car park, which offers 250 spaces across four distinct areas. The busiest area as at the Inhedge end, close to the toilet block, where four cars were parked. At the opposite end, close to Wellington Road, there were two cars, and two more in the middle, outside the mobile breast-screening unit. There was also a single car parked close to the Cross Street entrance.Other than that, it was empty - an occupancy rate of 3.6 per cent.
In the summer, Cronin's Books and Bits in the Churchill Centre closed, citing the parking charges and disruption caused by works on the tramline and new bus station. This month Castle Crafts, in the Fountain Arcade, announced it would be closing for similar reasons.
On Monday, Councillor Matt Cook will table a motion calling for the reintroduction of one hour's free parking on council-run car parks, with a £1 fee for the second hour-and-a-half.
"It has become obvious to me that it was a mistake to remove free parking from Dudley Council car parks," he says.
" Businesses across the borough are reporting a massive drop in trade and shoppers are stating the parking charges are too high.
"The majority of shops on our high streets are independent shops owned by local people. They provide a good service and do an honest day’s work.
"We must bring back the free parking period to help support our local businesses.
