I have to work in Stafford but I refuse to shop there or make any other visits to the town centre. That is purely because of the parking charges and the atitude towards parking by the Council, which clearly views it as a cash generator. I have found wardens loitering by my car, waiting for the ticket to expire. That is at 5pm - when half the car park is empty and there is certainly no argument that ticketing somehow keeps the place moving. All they are doing, transparently, is seeking to extort money out of people they know are working in the town centre.
Instead, I support the businesses in Newport where all the car parks are free. Telford & Wrekin tried to implement parking charges there a few years ago. So everyone, almost without exception, left the car parks empty. Saturday afternoon, which would normally see them full of shoppers, saw one lonely car. The shopkeepers put huge pressure on the council, backed by the local paper. A fortnight later the machines had gone. Newport doesn't have problems with people parking in residential streets because they don't need to do so. There is an excellent bus service with the interchange right in the town centre and there are plenty of car parking spaces. In fairness, the traders have also been very vocal and organised to protect their customers. That is something that, maybe, is more difficult in Stafford where the multiples don't have a local interest or a voice.