SUPPORT for our campaign to Keep City Parking Free is going from strength to strength as more than 3,700 people have now signed petitions backing it.

Less than two weeks ago we launched our campaign urging Newport City Council to reverse its decision to scrap free parking in council-owned city centre car parks for the first two hours.

It came as a response to the council’s decision to axe the two-year-old scheme, which allows shoppers to park their cars free of charge in council-owned city centre car parks for the first two hours of their stay.

The policy includes the council’s two multi-storey car parks, Cambrian and Park Square, and in conjunction with the privately owned Kingsway Centre running a similar scheme in its multi-storey car park it was seen as a lifeline for the struggling city centre.

The decision, and in particular the lack of consultation over it, has enraged traders and shoppers across the city, particularly as it came on the back of an announcement that parking in the run-up to Christmas and into the January sales period would be free for five hours.

And that frustration has been borne out in our petition figures which have seen 3,714 people back our campaign in just 11 days.

Jason Williams, who has been a partner in the Newport branch of Specsavers for ten years, working there for 21 years in total, backed our campaign.

Mr Williams said: “The two hours’ free parking is particularly useful for us. It gives people a chance even if they aren’t coming in for a lot of shopping to come and get what they need from us.

“We are lucky that most people plan a trip to the opticians so even if they go to shop in Cardiff, Spytty or Cwmbran they might still come to us.

“But if they are not coming into Newport for anything else and then they have to pay when they have their appointment, and again when they come to collect their prescriptions, they might well just decide to start going to another Specsavers somewhere else, so we definitely back the campaign.”

The Kingsway Centre has said it is committed to maintaining its policy at the moment but from February the council will axe the scheme, branding it unsustainable.

Councillor Ken Critchley, cabinet member for infrastructure, said: “Free parking costs the council almost £1 million a year, which is no longer sustainable at a time when central budgets are facing significant cuts and we face a funding gap next year of £8 million.