From today there will be Free Parking in Abingdon, for up to 2 hours.
Paid for by council tax payers to help shops in their local town centre thrive.
New signs remind people they still need to display a ticket even if they put no money in the machine.
So it is “No Pay” and Display.
I believe people will still need to pay for all on-street parking as that scheme is run by the County Council not the District Council. It will be interesting to see how that works out in the coming days – whether there are fuller carparks and emptier street parking places.
P.S Very easy to use, and quicker than paying …
Either enter your registration number and press the button (for that type of machine), or just press the ticket button (for the other type of machine).
Parking is not “free” if it is paid for by the taxpayer. But “taxpayer-funded parking” does not sound so good on election leaflets, does it?
That being said, let’s hope the scheme delivers a quarter of a million pounds worth of revitalization to the town centre each year.
I’m not close to tge figures David, and I’ll take your word for it if you disagree, but I think the £250k you refer to is the total reduction of income to the vale. As such it includes all the towns not just Abingdon.
I too hope this makes a real impact. Certainly when I was in town onthe 3rd when they had an early preview the car park was full and rhe town seemed busier than usual – but it’s difficult to judge at Christmas.
Iain is right that the cost is for the whole Vale, But Abingdin is much bigger than Faringon and Wantage combined so it will be the majority of the cost. David is right to call it ‘taxpayer funded’. It is also funded by the New Homes Bonus which was supposed to fund infrastructure where new homes are built – which I think is wrong.
Yes, the Town usually gets busier in the run up to Christmas, so we will need to leave it longer before a fair judgement can be made.
And the things to look at are a) whether shop takings rise significantly for comparable periods, and, b) whether empty units are filled.
The car parks may fill up with people who previously walked, cycled or got the bus. That doesn’t necessarily mean any extra trade.
My own view is that it will probably make a marginal difference but all the evidence from elsewhere is that the shopping ‘offer’ is a far bigger factor than car parking charges. I also think those people living near new developments will be very angry when they find there isn’t the money for infrastructure to support it.
Come on you usual suspects, you havent blamed Tesco yet….
Free parking has got to be good for Abingdon, its at least one less excuse for people to go to Didcot..
I have not seen the ticket machine yet, so not clear which two hours are ‘free’??. I know the costs have been increased.
It seems to be a trend, Oxford City Council recently applied £1.50 parking charges in Park and Ride, soon after signs appeared, that they have applied for Free parking from 18:30 until 5am, mainly after Theaters and Restaurants commented on loss of Trade.
The tickets expire at 18:29, which means everyone who uses it every day is paying £1.50-£1.70 to park for a shorter period. The bus timetable starts at 06:00 until 23:30. (so the period 5am to 6am is ‘lost?’).
Just a thought on ‘taxpayer funded’. If the total income from car parking in the Vale still exceeds the costs then what’s to fund?
From their own website
Abbey Close.
This car park is operational seven days a week, including Bank Holidays, from 8am until 4pm. The car park is free from 4pm through until 8am Monday to Sunday. (so in reality 8am to 6pm?)
Length of stay Charge New Length of stay New Charge
Up to 1 hour £0.60 Up to 2 hours Free
1-3 hours £1.20 Up to 3 hours £1.50
3-4 hours £3.10 Up to 4 hours £3.40
4-6 hours £4.00 Up to 6 hours £4.30
More than six hours £5.00 Over 6 hours £5.30
Parking permit charges for Abbey Close car park
Different Charging Periods in other Car Parks; West St Helen Street Monday to Saturday. Sunday parking free St Helens Church, Requirement for a Ticket Sunday?? or only during operating time period.
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Here you are Anon Coward – anti Tesco rant coming up!
Frankly, I am disappointed by, but not surprised at the usual ‘knocking’ and party political point scoring surrounding “free parking”. Thanks for pointing out that it isn’t actually “free”. Nor is our health service, and neither is a Buy-One-Get-one-Free in a supermarket! The “free” parking at Tescos also isn’t free. Get a mobile phone with free texts – I don’t think so! It’s all paid for by someone, somewhere. But of course, signs in Tescos saying “Buy-One-Get-One-Free – paid for by Tesco screwing it’s suppliers in to the ground or charging it’s customers more for something else” also isn’t very catchy, nor is “Supermarket free parking – actually paid for by everyone who shops is tescos….ha,ha,ha”
It’s all about perception.
I for one am no lover of supermarkets (can you tell). They are the main reason for sucking the life blood out of our communities and more importantly responsible for treating us like zombies by brain washing us in to thinking we are getting “what we want”. We aren’t.
That said, they do have things like “free parking” or “late opening” or “loyalty cards”…and if the high street is to stand any chance at all of surviving then it (the high street) is going to have to up it’s game. No one else is interested in levelling the playing field – not government, not councils and of course not supermarkets – they’re just after our hard earned £. Supermarkets won’t be bought down….so the high street needs to step-up!
So, whilst Supermarkets are allowed to stamp and kick the high street in to submission, the high street and our town centres need to at the very least open longer, give choice (supermarkets do not give choice)…and…dare I say it…also have “free parking”.
If my taxes have to go towards upping the high streets game to try, try to somehow compete with supermarkets, then I am happy for my £ to pay for an initiative that may well promote a busy, thriving heart beat to our town. Who would be against that? Why wouldn’t you want to try and promote a thriving town centre? Granted, it may not help. But it might….it just might.
I work too hard for the pound in my pocket, to pay to live here; to end up living in a ghost town is not an option. I love my community and want it to thrive. If “free parking” has a chance of helping – and renaming the town for that matter too…then I’m all for it. It’s as good a cause as any.
Hear hear Doozer!!
Just to add two points to Doozer’s well argued case.
Just caught up on this weeks herald and they report a cost to vale of about £190k rather than earlier £250k.
It’s also not just the shops that benefit, but also the shoppers who can now park in Abingdon for two hours for free. Us shoppers and the shop keepers are all rate payers too so rather good to see some of our council tax being spent on something many of us will benefit from.
indeed. I tend to be very leery every time the word “free” is used – and instantly suspicious whenever it is used by any politician. It is a word redolent with more spin than substance.
As I said in my opening post, I hope the scheme delivers more than it costs. I hope too that robust monitoring is in place that will allow us to see whether the scheme actually does deliver what the traders in the Vale hope for.
I also hope that the powers that be would have the courage to step back from this scheme if it is not found to deliver the desired result. Although I have a suspicion that too much political capital has been invested in this for it to be allowed to fail – whether it delivers or not.
Let’s keep fingers crossed that it will deliver and everyone can be happy. Nothing ventured – nothing gained
By the way – how has David managed to place his post at 11-02 when it’s currently only 10-48? I have my suspicions that cosmic farces are afoot.
Time travel. I am a cyborg sent from the future to protect you, Iain. You are the only hope for humanity.
Hasta la vista, baby. I’ll be back.
Lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIjGMCUwpgA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Town Centre revamp starts Feb
”Paid for by council tax payers to help shops in their local town centre thrive” (seems to be some political emphasis on this statement)
. . . . and your point is?
There’s plenty of things my council tax money is spent on for which I don’t benefit, so it’s good to hear that some of it is being used to try and help make our town centre a bustling and profitable place, which will encourage better shops and improve things for all who live here.
Good point Local Lass, just what is the point??
Free parking is good, I have noticed the street parking is less busy but that is to be expected. It’s a move in the right direction for the town and one that i support.
And your point is??????