Whitchurch and Wem Town Councils have come together to tell Shropshire Council: change your parking strategy.

Councillors in Whitchurch approved a letter drafted by Wem to the the unitary authority after proposed changes will see, according to the letter, a 400 per cent increase in resident parking in the old North Shropshire District Council area.

The letter states that yearly parking permits in Wem have gone from £75 to &102 and in Whitchurch, from £75 to a whopping £320 in town centre car parks.

Wem Town Council, in its individual response to the parking strategy stated that the increases discriminate against people on low wages in both towns and they will be penalised by it.

In the letter, they said: "It is the opinion of Wem Town Council and Whitchurch Town Council that Shropshire' Council's desire to introduce a one size fits all parking system countywide has impacted unfairly on the north of the county.

"The demographic of residents in the north of Shropshire, recorded in Shropshire Council market town profiles, demonstrates that there significant numbers of residents who are low wage earners in both market town as opposed to the more affluent areas of south Shropshire.

"Both councils believe that the blanket cost of residents parking across the county has had a significant negative impact on residents in the north.

"Both councils request that Shropshire review the countywide residents parking permit charges and that a reduction in the cost of residents parking permits for towns in the old North Shropshire District Council is introduced.

"Regarding the impact that the introduction of linear parking charges in Whitchurch and Wem's car parks, local businesses in both towns have reported a reduction in income since their introduction.

"This is also evident by the number of spaces available in the town's main car parks as residents are choosing to make use of free supermarket parking in neighbouring towns rather than supporting local shops.

"Therefore as part of the review of the parking strategy we would like to see the usage figures for these car parks (as opposed to the income figures) compared against a time period prior to the introduction of the charges.

"We understand the need for Shropshire Council to raise additional revenue but feel that it is wholly unjustified to do this at the expense of the smaller market towns where micro price increases are most keenly felt by businesses and resident alike."

The letter concluded by stating that both councils felt the proposed changes could lead to the further demise of the two market towns.

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