AS someone who works in the town centre I have seen the new Time Square redevelopment grow daily.

Personally I think it looks great and I hope it brings some much-needed respite to our town and some renewed interest and prosperity.

It is a shame that so far it appears very few business have taken up leases for the new area and that the price of the work seems to have increased substantially since inception and it is this lack of interest and cost that has repeatedly led me to ask what this would mean for shoppers and in particular the users of the new multi storey car park.

On every Warrington Guardian news update relating to the development I have asked whether Warrington Borough Council (WBC) will maintain the £3 per day parking charge and market discount to encourage footfall or whether the price will go up.

I don’t think we have ever had an answer.

This week I discovered (although not confirmed) that once Time Square is complete the daily rate to use the multistorey will increase to £9 per day, unless you work in the new WBC offices on the complex where it will be free.

I am not gullible enough to believe that this tripling of the daily rate plus a freebie for WBC workers is true but I think it is time that Warringtonians and in particular those of us who park in the multi-storey daily were told what changes to parking fees are planned when all the work is done.

If true, the comparison to free parking on the town’s other retail parks or those in Widnes or the Trafford Centre will be commented over.

Furthermore if WBC employees will not have to pay the same daily rate as us mere mortals then that will be just rubbing salt in to the wound, especially when council chiefs believe a charge on employers who provide parking for staff is the way forward for the town.

Come on WBC, please be honest with us and confirm just what parking charges will apply to all including WBC workers when Time Square is open.

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