Chamber welcomes parking U-turn

Salisbury Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the reinstatement of a one-hour parking charge in the town, while regretting that the tariff could not be set at a lower rate.

At a meeting between Salisbury City Centre Management, the Federation of Small Businesses, Salisbury and District Chamber of Commerce, Salisbury City Council and Wiltshire Council on Monday, the county agreed to reintroduce one-hour parking, which had been scrapped during April´s county-wide parking review.

Traders had been angered when the £1 one-hour tariff was abolished, forcing shoppers to pay a minimum of £2.20 for a two-hour stop, which business-owners claimed led to a 30 percent drop in trade.

Seven thousand people have since signed a petition against the new charges, and the chamber had demanded a £1.20 one-hour and £2 two-hour tariff, which Salisbury´s Area Board had backed.

But on Monday, county officials said the proposal would be too expensive. Instead, the bodies settled on a tariff of £1.50 for one hour and £2.50 for two hours.

The Chamber said after the meeting: “Although these charges are higher than we proposed we very much welcome the re-instatement of the critically important and popular one hour charge. The re-introduction of a one hour charge is a victory for common sense.”