Free Parking Deal: Another Reason to be a bit Noisier about Bedford and what it has to Offer!

The topic of my latest monthly article for the Times and Citizen newspaper was the Free Parking Deal, our initiative to follow our three successive years of shoppers' car park freezes with two hours' free parking in Bedford town centre on Saturdays from November 23rd. In it, I suggested that while Bedford has been quietly bucking the trend with our frozen charges for shoppers, rising footfall and falling shop vacancy rate, perhaps it's time to be a bit noisier in promoting our town and all it has to offer. If you didn't see the article, here it is in full:

"While the crisis facing Britain's High Streets continues in the face of the rise of out-of-town and internet shopping, Bedford town centre has been quietly bucking the trend. Bedford's rising footfall and falling shop vacancy rate contrasts with recent figures showing 18 shops a day closing nationally. Bedford faces the same challenges as other areas, however, and there can be no rest in the task of working to support our town centre.

That's why I have announced the Free Parking Deal: your first two hours free on a Saturday in all Council-run town centre car parks, starting November 23rd. This follows three straight years of shoppers' car park freezes, reducing the real cost of parking here while charges have risen in towns elsewhere, where they have reflected inflation and the national funding crisis for councils. We have fought successfully to protect hard-pressed shoppers from these effects, and now we want to go further with the introduction of the unprecedented Free Parking Deal.

We want the offer of two hours of free Saturday parking to send a powerful message that Bedford is open for business, and to issue a rallying cry for people to support Bedford Town centre and all it offers, especially the range of excellent independent traders.

While Bedford has been quietly bucking the trends seen elsewhere, personally I think it was time we were a bit noisier about our town and what it has to offer. So let's tell people about the redeveloped Higgins Bedford, the wonderful community events, our heritage, the beautiful Embankment, the planned reintroduction of town centre cinema, the forthcoming brand new bus station, our independent retailers and so much more. And now, let's add to that list something else that other towns simply cannot match as their parking charges rise year after year: free parking on Saturdays."