Shrewsbury BID says hours parked fell 9.7% and town centre spend 5.8% after the November 2025 rise. It also says council staff park free at Frankwell.
Drivers bought 9.7% fewer hours in Shrewsbury’s council car parks after charges rose in November 2025, according to a report published on Wednesday by the town’s business group.
Shrewsbury BID represents town centre businesses. Its 21-page report uses Shropshire Council’s own car park data, with footfall and card spending figures and a survey of businesses.
It comes three weeks before the council’s consultation on higher charges closes on Thursday 26 November. The BID is urging people to respond. Our earlier story has the proposals in full, town by town.
The BID is campaigning against the rises, so this is its case, not a neutral audit. The figures below are the BID’s. The council’s response to the report has not been published.
What the report says changed
The report compares November 2024 to May 2025 with November 2025 to May 2026, across the town’s council car parks.
- Hours parked fell 9.7%, about 126,600 fewer hours
- Transactions fell 2.3%, or 15,981 fewer
- One-hour stays rose by 7,499 on weekdays
- Three-hour stays fell by 12,280 on weekdays, and five-hour stays by 7,810
- Park and Ride rose by 6,943 transactions on weekdays
At Frankwell Main, the hourly charge went up 50% on 3 November 2025. Between March and May 2026, hours bought there were down an average of 21% on a year earlier. Transactions were down 8%.
Spending and footfall
The report sets the car park figures beside card spending and visitor counts, for the year to August 2026.
| Shrewsbury | UK | |
|---|---|---|
| Town centre spend | down 5.8% | down 2.5% |
| Footfall | up 0.2% | down 2.5% |
The BID says that points to “a local cause”. It estimates about £7.9m less would be spent in the town centre over a year if the fall continues. That applies the 5.8% to 2024 spending of £135.7m. The spending data covers debit cards only.
The report does not prove parking charges caused the fall. It shows the two moved together. Its point is that people still come but stay for less time.
The BID surveyed 69 town centre businesses from 17 to 25 September. Not every business answered every question.
- 82% said visitors now stay for less time
- 71% said footfall was down, and 52% said customer spend was down
- 87% rated Shrewsbury’s parking less competitive than other regional centres
- 94% expected Sunday charging to hurt trade, and 91% evening charging
Council staff at Frankwell
The most striking section concerns the council’s own staff. The BID says a Freedom of Information response from August 2026 shows they have parked free at Frankwell Main since January 2025.
Since the November 2025 rise, the report gives these figures:
- 217 spaces on an average weekday, a third of the 650 the BID counts
- 353 spaces at the peak, on 19 May 2026
- 4,894 free stays a month, with a median stay of more than nine hours
- about £40,000 a month, the BID’s value for that parking at the public tariff
The council’s own car park page, used in our parking guide, gives Frankwell 632 spaces, not 650. The share is about a third on either count. The council now holds its meetings at the Guildhall on Frankwell Quay.
The BID says this is inconsistent with charging long-stay drivers to move them to other transport. We have not seen the Freedom of Information response itself.
What a worker would pay
The report works out the cost of a full-time job, parking eight hours a day, five days a week, for 46 weeks.
| Car park | Before Nov 2025 | Now | Proposed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frankwell | £1,472 | £2,208 | £1,840 |
| Abbey Foregate | £1,104 | £1,288 | £1,840 |
The BID’s headline is £736 a year more at Abbey Foregate, measured against the price before November 2025. Measured against today’s price, the rise is £552. At Frankwell, the proposal is £368 a year cheaper than today.
Those figures are for paying by the day. The report also lists a 12-month season ticket under the proposed schedule at £800. It points out that a worker on the National Living Wage would need about 1.6 weeks’ gross pay to buy one up front.
What the BID wants
The BID welcomes the cut at Frankwell from £1.20 to £1 an hour, and the Sunday and evening Park and Ride. It asks the council to:
- limit any near-term rise to 20%
- bring in maximum charges that reward longer stays, starting with a five-hour cap pilot at Abbey Foregate, Frankwell and Raven Meadows
- publish a timetable for pay on exit at Frankwell and Abbey Foregate
- commit to more car park capacity within two years, and deal with free staff parking at Frankwell
Seb Slater, the BID’s executive director, said: “People still want to come to Shrewsbury, footfall is holding up while it falls nationally, but they are staying for less time and spending less.”
What the council has said
The council has not replied to the report in anything it has published so far. Its consultation notice of 29 October came first. It says some charges would rise, some fall and some stay the same.
Councillor Rob Wilson, the Cabinet member for transport, said in that notice: “We recognise that many people in a rural county rely on their cars.” He said the proposals “strike an important balance”.
The Cabinet report estimates the new tariffs could raise about £1.8m a year on current transactions. It warns that “significant changes in habits” may affect that estimate. It does not use the words footfall or dwell time.
What it means for you
Nothing has changed yet. The proposals would cost you more on the street and in most central car parks, and until 8pm rather than 6pm.
You can respond until Thursday 26 November:
- use the council’s online survey
- email TellUs@shropshire.gov.uk
- write to Feedback and Insight Team, Shropshire Council, PO Box 4826, Shrewsbury, SY1 9LJ
A council officer takes the final decision, with the Cabinet member, and not the full council. The decision notice sets that out. Current prices are in our guide to parking in Shropshire.
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