Parking spaces could be lost to allow social distancing, councillor reveals

* Llangollen is one of the towns where pavements 

may be widened to allow social distancing.

A Llangollen county councillor has revealed Llangollen could lose some of its parking spaces as a result of widening pavements to create more room for social distancing due to coronavirus.

Graham Timms makes the revelation as the Labour group of councillors on Denbighshire County Council – of which he is part – call on the authority’s leaders to introduce 30-minute free parking in town centres such as Llangollen to make up for the loss of spaces.

This move, they say, could come into force when the council re-introduces parking charges in August.

Cllr Timms said: “Llangollen is one of the towns where some parking spaces could be lost by widening pavements to create more space for social distancing.

“I am very keen to ensure that there is mitigation for parking places that are lost on our streets to ensure that our small businesses continue to thrive.”

Cllr Timms said he could not yet give any further information about what will actually happen in Llangollen as things were still at the planning stage.

On behalf of the Labour group its leader Cllr Joan Butterfield has written to the leader and chief executive of the council setting out the 30-minute free parking suggestion.

She writes: “We call on you to support local town centre businesses by introducing 30 minutes of free parking in all Denbighshire’s town and city centre car parks from 1^st August 2020.

“This will coincide with the re-introduction of parking charges in all Denbighshire’s car parks.

“Recent proposals to remove some of the free 30-minute on-street parking in some Denbighshire towns to create more space for social distancing will certainly make our high streets more attractive and safer places to shop.

“But this will also mean that some ‘pop-and-shop’ residents could have to start paying for their parking, making them less likely to shop locally. 

“Whilst we support moves to make our towns safer, we also recognise that small businesses play a vital role in providing services to local residents and visitors.

“These businesses have really struggled over the last three months, many of them have been closed and some that remained open have suffered from a huge reduction in incomes.  Now that the lockdown is coming to an end we need to ensure that Denbighshire finds ways to revitalise our town centres.

“We are particularly concerned about those town centre businesses that provide services for our residents; Butchers, Greengrocers, Newsagents, Bakers and many others.

“They contribute to the vibrant atmosphere on high streets and make them attractive places to be. We need to support them at this time to ensure that they can continue to serve their communities and make their contribution to get the economy moving again.

“We need our town centres to have a good range of shops for residents and visitors in order to stimulate the local economy and tourism as we begin to welcome visitors back to Denbighshire.

“We believe that offering an incentive of thirty minutes free parking in all town and city centre car parks will be good for businesses, residents and visitors.”