CALLS have been made for an immediate end to parking charges to help revive a town centre.
Flintshire Council has announced it will abolish parking charges in Holywell and Mold, the only towns in the county without free parking.
Now community leaders in Holywell say charges should be abolished sooner rather than later and could even help attract a retailer to the town’s former Somerfield store, which closed last February.
Holywell councillor Peter Curtis said: “We are all agreed on the need to fill the building and the need for free parking.
“I believe Flintshire Council could remove charges with the stroke of a pen.
“People have said to me the week before Christmas when charges were taken away was one of the best weeks for trading.
“There were no problems finding a parking space. They do not have those problems in other towns in the county..”
The car park at the Somerfield store, which closed with the loss of 25 jobs, is a Flintshire Council-run pay and display with a 20 pence a day charge.
Town centre manager Medwyn Roberts said the landlords of the site said there had been interest.
He said: “It is not just that the car park is a pay and display, it is the economic situation.
“But if anyone is interested in the site and they do some research they will see there are two other supermarkets in the town with free parking.
“I think free parking would help find tenants for the building, if that happened it would help bring more shoppers to the town.”
Members of the town council voted to write to Flintshire Council to ask for an immediate lifting of charges.
Flintshire Council were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.