Car park charges cut to lure back shoppers

Unity Place at Eastwood was opened earlier this year after a number of other major car parks in the town were closed due to redevelopment.

Today Rotherham Council said it was reducing charges and changing the minimum parking times after talking to shoppers and retailers.

Parking for an hour will now cost just 50p while a four-hour stay will cost 2 instead of 2.50.

In the past the council has been criticised for hiking up parking charges which retailers said was driving away business. It also came under fire after it scrapped a free parking scheme on Saturdays.

According to the council the decision to cut the price of parking at Unity Place was taken following consultation with motorists, shops and leading organisations such as Rotherham Chamber.

Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development Gerald Smith said: "This is something that we had been looking at for some time, not least because we recognise that the work surrounding Rotherham Renaissance's Westgate project has impacted on parking.

"The feedback from both shoppers and retailers has been very clear – they want central parking that is cost effective, which is what we are trying to achieve.

"As well as reducing the overall price, we have also changed the minimum stay from two hours to an hour, since we feel that some people just like to pop into town to pick up a couple of things.

"Hopefully this latest initiative will increase the number of Rotherham shoppers, which is important for us all."

Mike Smith, a Chamber director and vice-chair of the Renaissance Town Team, said: "We welcome this initiative from the council and hope it encourages business people and shoppers to use the facility."

Earlier this year both the Market Street and Main Street car parks were closed for re-development.

More recently the big St Ann's car park was shut to make way for a new leisure complex.