CHARGES in one of Tenbury’s car parks are to be frozen.

Malvern Hills District Council has decided not to put up the charges in its car park in the town in a bid to help the local economy.

The measure has been extended to include all car parks run by Malvern Hills District Council.

It comes at a time when traders in Tenbury are continuing to wait and see what impact the opening of the new Tesco store has on other shop businesses in the town.

A group of councillors and officers at Malvern Hills District Council, have been reviewing the way car parking operates across the district to ensure it meets the priorities set out in the council’s new car parking strategy.

These include improving the availability of safe, good quality car parking, improving traffic flow, supporting towns and businesses and ensuring a fair return for council taxpayers.

The group found there was no case for increasing charges at the current time, meaning visitors to and residents living in Malvern Hills District will continue to pay the lowest parking prices in Worcestershire.

A series of recommended changes have been made that will now be put out to a 12-week public consultation, following approval by the council’s executive committee but these do not affect the car park in Tenbury.

“I’m delighted we are able to keep parking charges on hold,” said Bromwen Behan, portfolio holder for the environment on Malvern Hills District Council.

“At the same time we are putting forward a series of measures that will provide further support to our towns and businesses, while allowing us to protect front line council services.”

Tony Penn, who represents Tenbury on Malvern Hills District Council, has been a supporter of Tesco coming to the town and believes that there will be benefits by bringing more people into the town.

Ken Pollock, sits for Tenbury on Worcestershire County Council and has been more cautious but he believes that it is too early to know what effect Tesco will have on the town.

Members of Tenbury Chamber of Commerce like much of the rest of the town was split on the Tesco issue.

Sarah Thompson, secretary of the Chamber, has also said that it is too early to know what the impact of the supermarket chain will be.

One of the issues that has caused concern is the impact on parking whilst the work on the store was taking place that presented problems for people visiting Tenbury Town Centre.

There has been an increase in the number of parking spaces in the town.

In addition to the car park run by Malvern Hills District Council there is also the one adjacent to the swimming pool that is run by the Town Council. Extra spaces have been created by the removal of the waste disposal facility. There is also an overflow car park on Palmer’s Meadow.

The consultation on changes to car parking runs until 5pm on Monday, September 11. People can have their say by visiting www.malvernhills.gov.uk/en/public-notices-consultations and following the instructions. Or comments can be emailed to communityservices@malvernhills.gov.uk with ‘Parking Order’ in the subject heading.