Shrewsbury Sunday car parking offer hailed a success
One month after Shrewsbury’s new Sunday car parking offer launched, traders in the town centre are reporting a positive start to 2015 with an increase in footfall and trade.
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres and a leading member of the BID team has reported footfall in the town’s two principal shopping centres, the Darwin and Pride Hill have increased on comparative Sundays in 2014.
“We are already seeing shopper numbers up by over 1,000 in the Pride Hill Centre on Sundays and that’s a very significant figure at this time of the year,” he said.
“We are delighted with the pro-active response from the Council and with the way they are working with us to regenerate the town centre. Shrewsbury is such an attractive town and an important shopping centre and this just makes it more accessible and that has to be a good thing for businesses throughout the town centre,” he added.
Gaining from the initiative is Paul Howl from card and gift shop Green Ginger in Pride Hill Shopping Centre. “Support for reduced Sunday parking prices has been fully welcomed by town centre retailers. We are very happy to see so many people out shopping on Sundays and staying for longer, particularly as we come out of the January sales into a quieter trading period. Feedback from shoppers has been extremely positive – everyone loves to have the extra pennies in their pockets and not in a ticket machine,” he said.
Shrewsbury BID and Shropshire Council are responsible for the new parking initiative which has been introduced to help welcome visitors and shoppers to Shrewsbury on Sundays and increase trade. The deal means shoppers and visitors can park and pay for just the first hour in any of the Council’s car parks, which can be as little as 60p per hour. The deal runs until Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
Councillor Claire Wild, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at Shropshire Council said:
“This is a great offer for those looking to shop, share lunch or visit town centre attractions on Sundays.”
“We are delighted that the figures for pedestrian footfall have increased and we look forward to looking at the full details at the end of the initiative. This will help support long term plans for parking and infrastructure projects to further improve town centre trading.”
Discounted all day car parking will be available at the following car parks: Abbey Foregate, Raven Meadows Multi Storey, St Julian’s Friars and Frankwell Main.
