Car parking charges in Biddulph are set to increase under new plans being drawn up by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, but parking for short periods of time could be made free.

The district council's car parking strategy is due to be discussed at a meeting of its Service Delivery Overview & Scrutiny Panel tomorrow (Wednesday 26th January).

A plan that will be presented to councillors during the meeting details the new charges that have been proposed for Biddulph and the rest of the council's car parks in the Moorlands.

The proposed charges for Biddulph's Wharf Road car park compared to the current charges are as follows:

- 1 hour: Free (down from £0.60)

- 2 hours: £1.20 (up from £0.80)

- 3 hours: £1.80 (up from £1)

10 hours: £2.50 (up from £1.80)

The charges are set to be put in place from 8am - 6pm on Monday to Saturday. Introducing Sunday charges is not currently planned but this will be kept under review for the future.

If the new charges are approved across the Moorlands the council is set to bring in around £770,000 from car parking charges over the coming year.

Discussing the new charges for Biddulph the report states: "As there is only one car park in Biddulph opportunities should be sought to increase the provision of relevant car parking, depending on business case.

"On-street enforcement is an issue in Biddulph, which SMDC could seek to utilise its influencing powers with SCC Highways to tackle.

"In Biddulph the location of Wharf Street car park is significantly impacted by short stay free parking of the adjacent Sainsburys supermarket.

"Therefore the impact on revenues of either a half or hour stay is negligible as the location is used more for longer stays. Therefore an hour free period is suggested."

The plans will be discussed further at tomorrow's council meeting.