Car parking charges in Biddulph are to increase after plans were approved today by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, but parking for short periods of time will be made free.

The district council's car parking strategy was discussed and approved earlier today at a meeting of the council's Cabinet.

Biddulph Nub News reported previously how councillors were considering the changes.

A report was presented to councillors during the meeting detailing the new charges for Biddulph and the rest of the council's car parks in the Moorlands.

The new charges that have now been approved 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.

The new charges will be reviewed after one year to evaluate their impact.

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 Staffordshire County Council 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."

Councillors today voted unanimously to approve the new charges.