Free Parking Deal Start Date and Late Night Opening Details

I am pleased to be able to confirm the start date of the Free Parking Deal, and to confirm new late car park openings we are bringing in to support the night-time economy in Bedford Town Centre. The Free Parking Deal will start on November 23rd, after legally-required consultation on the changes to arrangements. So, it will be in place in time for the all-important Christmas shopping period for our town centre traders.

To re-cap, under the Free Parking Deal the first two hours of your stay in any of the Council-run town centre car parks on a Saturday will be free. We are sending out a message loud and clear that Bedford is open for business, and after three straight years of car park charge freezes while they are rising elsewhere, we hope the Free Parking Deal on Saturdays will really make the difference when people are deciding where to shop.

The other news I am able to confirm is that we are bringing in further parking initiatives to support the town centre in the form of late opening at Lurke Street Multi-Storey Car Park until 12.30am, and twenty-four, seven-days-a-week opening at Queen Street Multi Storey Car Park. Both of these moves are designed to support the night-time economy and all those businesses which depend on evening trade.

We have listened to businesses' requests for further evening parking availability and, from 22nd November will be giving everyone the chance to park conveniently in the heart of the town centre at Lurke Street. Normal tariffs will apply, as they will in the case of the twenty-four hour opening of Queen Street, which is near to the many restaurants in the Tavistock Street and Broadway areas. Again, this arrangement will begin on Friday 22nd November, which will be the start of a big weekend for parking arrangements in Bedford Town Centre!

As I have said, we want to issue a rallying cry across Bedford and beyond for people to support the town centre. If everyone who cares about the town centre can work together to promote what Bedford has to offer, including these new parking initiatives, there will be tremendous benefits for traders and shoppers alike.