NORTHWICH’S town mayor has slammed Cheshire West and Chester Council for continuing to sting workers in the town centre with parking charges.

Town mayor Cllr Kevin Rimmer spoke out over the issue at the Northwich Town Council meeting this week, saying the borough council, which manages the car parks in Northwich, should be doing more to help businesses and its employees rather than hitting them with an extra financial burden.

Cllr Rimmer said: “Depending on where they park, some of them have been getting hit with fines. Obviously from a business point of view – they are all struggling for various reasons and I find it a tad unbelievable that CWAC is not putting more into place to help them rather than hinder them.

“Support comes in all kinds of different ways, it’s not just financial, but one of the last things they need when they are struggling to get people through their doors is getting hit with fines because they have no option of where to park.”

Cheshire West and Chester Council deputy leader Cllr Karen Shore, who is also cabinet member for environment, highways and strategic transport, responded to Cllr Rimmer’s criticism by arguing that the parking charges help the town centre businesses by encouraging ‘turnover’.

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Cllr Shore said: “The parking strategy and parking enforcement is there to support local businesses, as it provides turnover and movement of vehicles, which helps shoppers to access parking places in the town centre. It also helps to keep roads safe and accessible for all users.

“There is free all-day parking at the Leicester Street Car Park and free parking places for up to four hours at the Baron’s Quay Car Park. There are several car parks in the town centre where parking charges start as low as 20p for up to two hours to a maximum of £1.50 all day.

“During the ongoing pandemic the council has deployed officers to visit businesses and offer advice and support on the current Covid-19 guidance to help open up high streets throughout the borough."

The parking charges in Northwich were first introduced in November 2018 and have received widespread condemnation over the past two years.

A petition to have the charges scrapped, launched by a group of residents and conservative councillors, reached more than 3,000 signatures.