As Stone traders return to the town, so do the Stafford Borough Council car park charges – however, NHS and other carers will still receive free parking.
Stafford Borough Council has said that NHS staff, and other critical care workers, will still be able to park for free when charges return to the Crown Street and Christchurch Way car parks from the 15th June.
Drivers have not had to pay at the borough council run car parks in Stone and Stafford since the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. The ticket machines on all their surface car parks were covered up to help prevent the spread of the disease.
Charges will return from Monday 15 June following the Government announcement that many non-essential shops can reopen from that date. It costs £1.10 an hour in Stafford and 70p in Stone to use the borough council run car parks.
In response to the charges being implemented, the council has said they will continue to provide free parking for NHS staff, Health and Social Care workers, and NHS COVID 19 volunteers who display the official permit on their vehicles.
All car parks are listed on www.nhs-freeparking.co.uk enabling on duty NHS staff and other critical care workers to find free parking locations quickly and easily. The local authority is also encouraging motorists to take advantage of paying for parking via their phones to reduce contact with money and ticket machines.
Signs reminding people of social distancing and other safety measures will be on display at the car parks in both towns as well as notices to alert people that the charges are returning from Monday 15 June.
Councillor Frances Beatty, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Planning, said:
“I am pleased we will still be offering free parking to those wonderful nurses, doctors and critical care workers who have been going above and beyond on the frontline helping to save lives during this terrible pandemic.
“As a local authority we are following government and the British Parking Association advice in relation to our plans to reintroduce parking charges and, of course, making sure we have the appropriate safe social distancing advice in place.”
The council have said that as well as helping maintain and improve car parks, charging ensures spaces are available for shoppers to support the local economy – because if it is free the car parks fill up with town centre workers. Financial figures released during the lockdown period showed the borough council was losing around £180,000 a month in car parking revenue.
A full list of borough council run car parks and charges can be found at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/carparks
You can find more on how to pay for parking online, by phone, text or mobile app from www.staffordbc.gov.uk/cash-free-parking
