Worcester City Council is now Conservative-led after a Labour councillor Cllr Alan Amos became an independent. Cllr Amos has had a varied career – he was a Conservative MP and then a Labour Parliamentary candidate. He was then a Labour councillor in Tower Hamlets.
Anyway the Conservatives are already making a tangible difference in terms of parking charges.
Worcester News reports the following reductions:
– £1 after 7pm across the city and just 40p for just minutes at eight selected sites, as your Worcester News revealed was likely last Friday
– 60p for half-an-hour at Copenhagen Street, Cornmarket and Providence Street, a 50 per cent reduction
– Four hours for £5 at Copenhagen Street, Cornmarket and Providence Street compared to the current price of £6, and six hours for £7.50 at the same sites compared to £10 now
– All three of those car parks will also charge £10 for 24 hours, down from £15
– Among the other reductions is £3 for six hours at Croft Road, compared to £5 now
The 40p for 30 minutes will apply to Cattle Market, King Street, Newport Street, St Martin’s Gate, Clare Street, Commandery Road, Orchard House and Croft Road.
Adrian Field, from Worcester’s Business Improvement District, which represents the shops, said:
“It’s great news for the evening economy, excellent news for the city generally and I think it’ll be universally welcomed.”
Council leader Cllr Simon Geraghty, said:
“This is something we campaigned on and we wanted to act quickly to help the city.”
This change follows a petition organised by the Conservative MP for Worcester Robin Walker calling for lower parking charges to ease the pressure on high street shops.
Sometimes people say they can’t tell the difference between Labour of the Consservatives running a council. That is not a claim that can be made in Worcester.