Did Christmas free parking boost local business?

Welshpool Town Council is inviting local businesses to share their experiences of recent free parking Saturdays, as part of an evaluation to help inform future initiatives.

Church Street Car Park was made free to use on four Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas with the aim of encouraging more people to visit Welshpool, support local shops, and spend more time in the town.

This was alongside the scores of free parking spaces already offered year-round for two-and-a-half hours at the town centre supermarket car parks.

The Council has now launched a short business survey to understand whether free parking made any difference their business.

The findings will be used to inform councillors when they consider whether similar initiatives should be trialled in the future, including the possibility of a longer free parking pilot during the tourist summer season.

Town Clerk & RFO, Richard Williams said: “Parking is one of the issues we hear most about from businesses and residents, so it’s really important that we properly understand whether free parking genuinely helps the town centre before committing further resources to a larger scheme.

“The views of local businesses are critical to that process. They are best placed to tell us whether initiatives like this translate into more customers and stronger trading.”

The survey takes only a few minutes to complete and asks businesses whether they noticed any change in customer numbers, behaviour or spending during the free-parking days, as well as their overall view on whether the initiative was beneficial.

The survey can be completed online https://forms.office.com/e/X7a6wZ8m16 and closes at midday on the January 22.