Car parking fee rise will kill town centres, claim

Council bosses say they hope the rise in fees will bring in £250,000 this year with a further £450,000 generated in each of the following two years.

Short stay prices will increase from 50p to 60p per hour in the borough's main town centres and from 40p to 50p per hour in smaller centres.

Prices have increased as part of measures announced in the council budget as the authority battles to save almost £22 million over three years.

Today Dudley Council's transport boss, Councillor Judy Foster, claimed prices would be 'competitive' with neighbouring areas.

But opposition councillors have hit back at the move.

Conservative group leader Councillor Patrick Harley said: "We had plans under our administration to begin scrapping some car park charges.

"Ever increasing charges will only finish off town centres."

Councillor Foster said: "We have always kept parking charges on borough car parks to a very competitive rate in comparison with other authorities and even with this small increase,

Dudley car parks remain among the cheapest to use in the region.

"In addition to this we also offer free on-street parking across all of our towns."

Alan Caswell, who owns the Arcade Toy Shop, in the Fountain Arcade, off Dudley High Street, today said: "It is not the right move when they need to fill the empty shops and the market stalls."

Chairman of Dudley Market Traders Association, Len Lenihan, said the increases were unfair due to the continued absence of parking fees at nearby Merry Hill shopping centre.

Motorists have to pay around 50p for the cheapest car parks in Wolverhampton, with charges in West Bromwich priced at 80p for an hour and up to £1.40 in Walsall over two hour periods.

Rates for one hour in Kidderminster are around 90p and Stafford up to £1.50.

It comes as the authority is aiming to transform the high street area to boost traders with a major £6.7 million overhaul of the historic market place.

Planning approval has been granted in recent weeks for three potential schemes bringing a large supermarket into Dudley.