CLLR Mark Pritchard has said he hopes to meet with the owners of the Island Green carpark this week to discuss changes to the facility.

The carpark has been a big point of discussion across the town in recent weeks, amid reports of people being slapped with £90 fines for offences such as dropping off family members and picking up pizzas.

Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras were recently installed at Island Green, which is home to several large retailers, including Argos and Wilko, as well as Wrexham Central train station.

A growing number of drivers have since complained they have received parking charge notices despite only visiting for a short period of time, though the operators Euro Carparks have disputed that people have been sanctioned for visits of less than twenty minutes.

However, the Leader of Wrexham Council has said he has proof that this is the case and has given up trying to contact Euro Carparks after multiple attempts.

“I have been unsuccessful in attempting to organise any sort of meeting between myself and Euro Carparks.

“To be honest I’ve given up trying. It seems like a faceless organisation, if you ring you get put onto an automated system, and the email address you are directed to does not respond to any emails you send.

“The big concern for me is that people are receiving fines for things like picking something up from Argos or dropping someone off at the train station.

“If you want to appeal the fine you must do so by email, for those who don’t have online access or an email address, how are they supposed to appeal?

“Then if you go to pay the fine you’ve been given, it can’t be done by cash, it has to be done online again. For those that don’t have an electronic bank account this is another major issue.”

However, Cllr Pritchard did confirm he has held successful talks with Nuveen, the company who own Island Green, and revealed he plans to meet them at some point this week to discuss new signage and current ticketing issues.

The Leader:

“I recently held very fruitful talks with Nuveen, who were very helpful and willing to discuss the issues that the Island Green carpark currently faces.

“They have agreed that an apparent lack of waiting time is a big problem and going forward there will be signs displaying the fact that you have twenty minutes of free waiting time before you are required to pay.

“I am hoping that I can meet with them at some point this week to discuss the issues further, but so far talks have been very successful.

"After all the controversy that has occurred, I will be questioning Nuveen about whether Euro Carparks are the right company to be working with in operating the facility."