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Free hour parking boost for market towns

Making parking free for the first hour will encourage local people to shop locally instead of driving all the way to the city and spending their money there. That's good for our market towns and good for the local economy
Council Leader John Fuller

South Norfolk Council has introduced first-hour free parking in Diss and Wymondham as well as Loddon. This boost to local retailers is expected to pull in more shoppers and help market town centres fight the economic recession.

Council Leader John Fuller says the first hour free initiative has come at a critically important time for the local economy.

He said:

"These are difficult times for everyone, and our market towns are no exception. Retailers need shoppers to be spending their money with them, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

"Making parking free for the first hour will encourage local people to shop locally instead of driving all the way to the city and spending their money there. That's good for our market towns and good for the local economy."

The new parking initiative came into effect in Loddon in September, where the Co-op have funded an extra hour of free parking. After feedback from retailers and the public, the system was improved and re-introduced at the beginning of November.

That improved system has been rolled out to Wymondham and Diss this week.

Andy Radford, Director of Property, Finance and IT at South Norfolk Council said he was pleased with the introduction of the new charging initiative, but wanted to remind people about obtaining a ticket for the first free hour:

"The key issue has been local people forgetting to get a ticket for their first free hour. That's understandable when a new parking system starts, and people who forget have been receiving polite reminder notices on their vehicles thoughout this week.

"It is important to get that first hour free ticket to record the date and time of your arrival because from next week, our car parks will be patrolled by attendants who will be checking tickets and will be able to issue enforcement notices."

Diss Councillor Tony Palmer said:

"Car parking in Diss has been very disorganised since the retirement of our warden. However, after receiving many complaints about inconsiderate parking, I am pleased that enforcement of on-street parking is now being re-introduced and with the availability of the free hour in our car parks in the run up to Christmas, I trust that Diss shoppers and businesses will benefit."

Wymondham Councillor Joe Mooney said:

"I am very pleased that South Norfolk Council is making parking free in Wymondham for the first hour. This measure will hopefully encourage people to shop in Wymondham where you can buy most of the things that you may require for your family without having to put up with the inconvenience of travelling to Norwich where the car parking charges are very much higher."

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