The Free Parking Deal: Two Hours' Free Saturday Parking Starts Tomorrow!

Tomorrow sees the launch of the Free Parking Deal for Bedford Town Centre. For the first time ever, free parking will be available in all Council-run town centre car parks for the first two hours of your stay, every Saturday. If you stay for longer, you will simply pay for the amount of time you stay after those first two hours.

While parking charges rise elsewhere, next year will be the fourth successive year of our car park charge freeze for shoppers. This is in spite of the huge cuts in funding faced by the Council, because support for local shoppers and town centre businesses is a priority. Now we want to go even further, and send out a resounding message that 'Bedford is open for business'.

The Free Parking Deal is intended to serve as a rallying cry for people to visit and enjoy their town centre, and with Bedford having bucked the trend in recent times with rising footfall and a falling shop vacancy rate, we have a real opportunity to build on this progress.

We are hoping that the offer will provide local traders with a significant boost during the all-important Christmas shopping period, but I should stress that the Free Parking Deal is not just for Christmas! This is a permanent change we are making in support of shoppers and local businesses.

Please note that if you are parking in town tomorrow in a pay and display car park you will still need to go to the machine and collect a free ticket to display, in order to show how long you have been in the space. Similarly, in the 'pay on exit' multi-storey car parks you will need to go to a machine before you leave to confirm the length of your stay.

For more information, including a location map of town centre car parks and a 'Frequently Asked Questions' document on the Free Parking Deal, visit the Council's website here: www.bedford.gov.uk/parking

I wrote at some length about the Free Parking Deal and our hopes for it here on mayordave.org.uk at the time it was announced, and if you missed it you can read it here