With it looking increasingly unlikely that the upper storeys of Truro's Moorfield car park will ever open again, Cornwall Council has said it is working on parking capacity for visitors to the city - particularly in the busy run-up to Christmas.

Truro BID, which represents businesses in the city, is asking the council to “seriously consider” reinstating free parking after 4pm, to spread the parking load for shoppers and put Truro on a level playing field with towns across the Duchy which still enjoy free evening parking.

The parking problem has been exacerbated in Truro after three car parks were demolished to make way for the stalled Pydar development. Truro councillor Rob Nolan said last week that there’s a suggestion part of that site could be used as a pop-up Christmas car park.

You can read more about that here: Stalled Pydar development likely to become Christmas car park

Cornwall Council has issued an update concerning the future of the city centre Moorfield multi-storey, in statement saying: “Safety is paramount and the council’s aim has been to keep the car park open for as long as possible while it has been safe to do so. Any decision that affects the capacity of the car park is not taken lightly and so this needs to be based on robust evidence.

“After a specialist structural appraisal was provided to Cornwall Council on May 21, the elevated sections were closed to vehicles. However, the structure is considered safe for the public to use the ground floor, with further monitoring inspections taking place fortnightly.

“The structure has reached the end of its design life and it is unlikely that remedial works to extend its life indefinitely would be possible or financially viable. Officers are working to understand what could be possible in the shorter term in terms of shopper capacity in the lead up to Christmas in particular.”

Alun Jones, manager of Truro’s business improvement district (BID), responded to the council’s comment.

He said: “We are aware of the current public perception regarding the reduced parking capacity in Truro. Of course this concerns ourselves as we need our customers to have confidence this Christmas that they will be able to access Truro to do their shopping in person, attend professional services appointments and also enjoy our night-time economy.

“The reality is that previously Truro only ever exceeded its car parking capacity a few days per year around the peak Christmas events. However, currently of course we have less spaces available. Other options are that customers, where practical, use either of the park and ride services, which are really easy to use with frequent bus shuttles.”

He added: “There are also other car park operators to use, some also offer reduced Sunday or evening parking rates. It is worthwhile exploring new parking locations – we are creatures of habit and probably visit the same car park. The train service is another option probably currently under-utilised, especially if coming from the Falmouth / Penryn or St Austell directions.”

Mr Jones broached the idea of the council reinstating free evening parking, which was removed in Truro last year when controversial changes were made to Cornwall Council car park tariffs, including hefty price increases.

He said: “Another approach that Cornwall Council could consider is to try to help spread out the incoming customer visit pattern. Currently our peak trading is 11am to 2/3pm. We would welcome the reinstatement of free parking after 4pm, as every other town in Cornwall managed to retain theirs. This would then encourage the increased customer late afternoon visits that we previously enjoyed.

“We would ask Cornwall Council to please seriously consider to reinstate the free after 4pm parking in Truro to simply help ease car park pressures and also level out the trading playing field with all other local towns.”