Swansea City parking concessions extended until end of January 2021

LEAVING your car in Swansea city centre will be a lot cheaper than normal in December and January, if you use council car parks.

Charges will be £1 for two hours and £2 all day after 9.30am.

Participating car parks include the Quadrant, St David’s and High Street multi-storeys.

In addition, park and ride charges will be just £1 per vehicle.

Concessions have been in force since the fire-break lockdown ended on November 9, but they were due to end a month later.

The new pricing structure agreed by the council’s cabinet will continue until January 31.

Further concessions might then be implemented in February and March, pending a review, before normal tariffs return in April.

Introducing the report, Cllr Mark Thomas, who has the transport portfolio, said: “We always do (parking) promotions over Christmas. We want to do this in a bigger way.”

The new concessions would, he said, be easy to understand and to advertise.

The aim is to encourage more footfall during a critical trading period for businesses, most of which have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.

Parking all day at the Quadrant multi-storey car park normally costs £12.10.

An all-day stay at the St David’s multi-storey is normally £7, while the usual park and ride charge is £2.50.

The concessions will, however, mean less revenue for the council, and the report said there could be limited scope to recoup losses from the Welsh Government.

A number of out-of-town council car parks are currently free, and a report will be published shortly on charging proposals for Mumbles.

Council leader Rob Stewart said: “We want our city centre to come out of this pandemic stronger than it went in.”

The concessions have been welcomed by businesswoman Julie Williamson, who owns First Call Coffee, High Street, and Crusts, Singleton Street.

“Anything that would encourage people to come into the city centre again is obviously ideal from the business community’s point of view,” she said.