To think Free Parking is the answer to revive our town centres?

[Jumell]

I’ve been thinking a bit about this lately.

Whenever I thought about going to the city centre where I used to live, to shop/browse etc - the main thing that would stop me going was the thought of paying for parking - I’d just think - ‘nah’ - and not bother going in.

i think that if the Govt took the initiative to scrap all charges from car parking companies - NCP/Councils etc etc in town centres / high streets - it would massively revive these shopping centres that we all knew and loved?

In France there is a nationwide system called the "blue" parking zone and everyone has a parking disk in their car (they are available to purchase in service stations or you can just write "arrival time" on a piece of paper if you're really desperate). You set it to your arrival time and it automatically shows you the time you must leave by - generally 90 minutes. Then you leave it on your dashboard so the parking wardens can check it. It stops people who work in the town centre from occupying the blue-zone free spaces all day.
Personally, I think this would be better than making town centre parking free.

Harrogate has similar as do some parts of Northumbria

I agree - Round here we have a bustling market town that has free parking year round. Other towns of similar size are now made up of nail bars/charity shops/costa coffee.

It’s not just the cost, it’s the hassle of downloading endless apps as no where seems to be cash now…its enough to put me off and i stick to out of town places or online.

It would be nice not to pay but free parking wouldn’t increase my visits to the city centre. I avoid going because I don’t like going into town and I prefer to shop online.

I don't go because every time it's the same. Go into my local city for something, it's not in stock / not in my size and now I've paid for parking and I need to order it so either have to pay postage to my home or pay for a second lot of parking to go and collect in store. Not to mention all the car parks are utterly grim and the stairwells reek of a disgusting mix of urine, jeyes fluid, excrement and herion. You have to run the gauntlet of charity collectors who aren't collecting just trying to harvest your bank details, then the bloody kids will want lunch bevause it took so bloody long to fight your way in, lunch which will probably set you back nearly £100 for 4 if you eat out. The park and ride is rubbish, no actual bus lanes so it takes just as long and then you have to wait in the rain with your soggy paper shopping bags.

I'd rather order online and then go for a walk in the woods.

Apologies it seemed id copied more than the post id intended to.

Poor old housebound Mavis, not only has she lost her winter fuel payment, she now has to pay a 5% hike in Council Tax for car park maintenance charges.

I feel unsafe in my local city and customer service is non existent. It is also filthy and run down. If I have to go there for any reason, I park in the safest car park, go straight where I need to and then straight back to the car. No way am I browsing the shops, it's far too unpleasant. Free parking is not going to solve that.

My local town is so rubbish now there's not enough shops to fill an hour so it's not worth paying to park for the minimum 1h unless you want to go for a coffee or lunch. I think 1st hour free would encourage more people to go there.
And yes I know we should be using the bus instead of driving but the bus service from my village is not the best, but that's another issue....

Free parking would encourage more cars

exoensive parking discourages car use

not all towns are the same.

Just let the existing town centres die and let out of town retail areas become the new town centres. As shops close, change them into being homes and apartments.

Free parking wouldn’t incentivise me to go into my local town more. I only ever go in to collect things I’ve ordered from M&S anyway,

A wider range of shops and a couple of cafes that don’t allow dogs would be much more appealing.

Well yes and perhaps home the homeless and make it feel less like you are abroad

The parking in my City is completely free and we thrive, market days are bustling. I think you are right OP! The only thing is that if you leave after 9am on a Saturday it’s hard to find a spot as it’s so busy and we are a cathedral city so the run up the Xmas it’s very busy with tourist buses in. But the free parking is an absolute bonus.

my town has three supermarket car parks which are restricted to shoppers
and three free carparks
the town centre is often DEAD
it is too near a bigger town i think

yabu
what town centres need is good public transport from the surrounding area, including rural villages

Depends on size and location of town, but on the whole I agree.
Our closest town (country market town) wanted introduce parking meters and local businesses fought against it and the plan was abandoned. It would have killed the town stone dead.

I think the opposite needs to happen. Make parking more expensive BUT make public transport very cheap or free AND plentiful. It should be cheaper and more convenient to get public transport than drive otherwise why would you bother?

Ultimately though, town centres have only expanded massively in the last 30-40 years as huge malls started springing up, and it wouldn't be a bad thing to let them shrink provided it was managed properly, and that means focusing on designer or independent, high quality and unique shops, markets, and experiences rather than allowing bookies and gambling joints, vape shops, and charity shops to dominate the high street. There are some really good examples of where this has been done well, such as Belfast with its Victoria Centre and St, George's market but it requires significant investment and commitment. Town centres need to become destination for leisure and entertainment which may include shopping but isn't necessarily the main focus.

Think the only way free parking could improve our town centre would be if they knocked it down to provide the car parks

That's the reality in lots of places. It's sad, but it's reality. Town centre retail has had it's day. Fair enough, convert into socialising and entertainment spaces but you also need car parking for that too, and you need to radically reduce the size of town centres and convert entire blocks into homes. You also need to drastically improve public transport so people who havn't driven can actually get home after a meal out in the evening, or a trip to the theatre or cinema rather than the last bus/train being stupidly early like 7-30! Likewise park n rides need to be running much later - the one in our closest city has it's last run back to the car park at 6-30!! Really useful for evening activities!!

Anyway, more and more out of town retail parks etc are also embracing the socialising and entertainment scene with restaurants, cinemas, bowling alleys, and other similar non-retail establishments. Again, far more convenient for car drivers.

If we're going down the road of discouraging car drivers in town and city centres, then there has to be alternatives put in place, i.e. public transport, park n ride, alongside drastic re-modelling of town centres to get rid of the undesirables, low level street crime, derelict shops, money laundering shops, etc.

Retail is constantly evolving. Just 50 years ago, there were virtually no national chain stores on High Streets. There were lots of small independents, a fair few regional chains, but town centres still had other places such as printworks, factories, warehouses, breweries, offices, banks, etc etc as well as plenty of homes within easy walking distance if not right in the centre. It was national high street retail chains that took over all that and hence shopping malls, large department stores, large supermarkets etc., which started the rot as it pushed out other businesses and pushed out homes. Then along came out of town retail which heralded the death knell for High Street national chains. Now the internet is the death knell for the remaining town centres and some of the national chains on retail parks (Argos, Homebase, etc). It's evolution. We need to go back 50 years to where people lived and worked in town centres - that's if we want town centres at all - I'm not convinced there's actually a need now that out of town retail marks and malls seem to have become the "new" town centres now they have shops, restaurants, entertainments, banks, travel agents, vets, etc etc.

Well, there are only so many parking spaces, so self limiting.

Yes it does discourage cars ie people/shoppers, hence our high streets have imploded.

No they are not but the vast majority have multi stories, open air car parks, often half empty & on street parking

If towns were revived, councils get more tax, government gets more tax, there are more jobs and more money to spend on public transport.

My home town/small city has been ruined, 20 years ago, it was easy to drive in or out, dual carriage ways crisscrossed the place, built after the town was bombed in WW2, then they decided to limit parking/hike charges, put in hordes of bus lanes... now they have a dead centre, massive traffic congestion and poor air quality.... the councils solution - is to increase parking charges 24/7, used to be free in the evenings/sundays, so now many of the restaurants that did thrive have gone too!!

You couldn't make it up.

You are right....and North Somerset council who keep going on about going g bust are going to borrow 1/2m for parking in all car parks and sea fronts...yet they rely on business rates..twats

Would make no difference where I live. Unless you are into vaping, or need a Turkish barber, there is fuck all to go into the centre for.