By timesecholife on in All News, Latest News
Parking charges remain in place at car parks across the Moorlands in a bid to ‘discourage social gatherings,’ a council has said. We reported last week that concerns had been raised over the potential spread of coronavirus via the use of pay machines on car parks after Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) refused to suspend charges. But a council spokesman has since confirmed the aim was to stop people visiting town centres.
Parking charges remain in place at car parks across the Moorlands in a bid to ‘discourage social gatherings,’ a council has said.
We reported last week that concerns had been raised over the potential spread of coronavirus via the use of pay machines on car parks after Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (SMDC) refused to suspend charges.
But a council spokesman has since confirmed the aim was to stop people visiting town centres.
Last week councillor Gary Bentley, from Cheadle, was joined by several other council members, including councillor Linda Malyon, from Ipstones, as he called for charges to be axed during the coronavirus lockdown.
Cllr Bentley suggested parking should be free and pay machines covered over to prevent anyone touching the buttons and inadvertently spreading the virus.
However, despite most shops and venues being closed, the parking charges look set to remain in place.
A spokesperson for Staffordshire Moorlands District Council said this week: “Public health has been our priority whenever decisions about the services we deliver have been made and it was decided at an early stage that we would keep car parking charges in place to discourage social gatherings.
“This decision was made in partnership with our partners to support and reinforce the importance of the need for social distancing – suspending the charges would have given a mixed message at a time when non-essential travel was restricted for everyone.
“Throughout this period we have operated the car parks strictly in line with the British Parking Association guidance and recognised the national permit scheme for health and care workers.
“Locally, we have extended the permit scheme to include other key workers such as staff working in chemists.”
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