CWMBRAN Shopping faces massive upheavals as centre management alter car parking in the town.
From August 4 many long-term parking spaces at Cwmbran Shopping will be scrapped in favour of a three-hour maximum stay. Any cars staying beyond the three-hour limit face a fixed-penalty fine.
At the Llewellyn Car Park, two of the three levels will be subject to the new limitations, with one remaining a long-stay area. Around half of the 3,000 parking spaces in Cwmbran will become short-stay only.
Cwmbran Shopping say the move is necessary to accommodate the high number of shoppers attending the precinct each week.
Centre Manager, Gerry Hutchings, said: "We need to ensure Cwmbran remains a place where shoppers can park easily."
Mr Hutchings said Cwmbran Shopping hosts between 85,000 and 90,000 cars every week, and he expects more as further amenities are added to the town centre later this year.
But the move has not been welcomed by everyone. Woolworth's Cwmbran Store Manager, Chris Bridgeman, said his colleagues were not looking forward to the planned changes.
"It's totally unnecessary. It will mean all the long-term spaces will be gone by 9 in the morning. For anyone starting at 10 or later it will be hard for them to find a space."
Mr Bridgeman said he suggested an alternative to centre management, but it was rejected: "I said to make short-term spaces from three hours to one or two hours and create a better flow of cars."
Laurena Carie, a stylist at Haircut 2000, is also against the plan: "It's going to have a massive impact on our customers, especially if they come in for colouring or perming because that takes time."
She added: "It's going to be hard on workers, where are they supposed to park?"
