Cheshire East Council is to provide our communities with four free days of parking a year.
The Council says the move aims to support the borough's towns and have the flexibility to support special events and busy periods, such as festivals and the run-up to Christmas.
Councillor Laura Crane, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for highways and waste, said: "This is good news for our towns and residents – and local shops and businesses.
"The council faces severe financial pressures – with increased demand for key services and big reductions in income due to Covid-19. However, we wanted to reintroduce this scheme, which was first offered in 2016, to help give our towns and high streets an extra boost – and as a thank you to our residents for their support and patience during the challenges of the pandemic and lockdown."
The council intends to introduce a free-parking initiative on a maximum of four days in the next 12-month period. There will be four free days allowed per town or parish council area, in places where charges apply.
Cllr Crane added: "The primary purpose of this incentive is to support our towns and provide a flexible incentive which can be used in the run up to Christmas or spread throughout the year to aid key town events. This is in addition to the free parking after 3pm at certain designated car parks within the borough.
"The offer of free parking will be considered on those car parks predominantly used by shoppers and the parking services team would welcome advanced liaison from the relevant councils and notice of the chosen days. This is to ensure there are no other programmed events taking place. The days chosen by the participating councils will follow consultation with their elected members, event organisers, local shops and businesses and charity event organisers.
"In return, the council requests feedback on these initiatives to ascertain their effectiveness for both shoppers and businesses."
The local car parks authorised for this incentive are as follows:
● Alderley Edge: South Street;
● Wilmslow: South Drive; Hoopers; Spring Street; Rex.
To maximise the number of free spaces for shoppers and visitors, the free parking will start after 10am. Participating town councils will be asked to advertise and promote these free days on the designated sites on the days in question and then remove these materials in a timely fashion afterwards, to avoid any confusion for service users.
Comments
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For goodness sake... .. Laura Crane's 'primary purpose of this incentive' is really just to say something when it really may be better to have said nothing... Absolute tosh .
four days per year is hardly worth bothering with.
A derisory proposal from a Sandbach labour Cllr who probably has never ever been to Wilmslow.
So much costly faffing about [liaisoning, consultations, feedback] just to save a couple of quid for a few people who can then park their BMW's, Mercedes, Range Rovers and Audis for nothing.
"The council faces severe financial pressures – with increased demand for key services and big reductions in income due to Covid-19" - so lets spend money on arranging and making known a scheme that will lose us normal parking revenue! Where's the logic in that?
Therefore, there is an established process for implementing these days that I understand works well and without any fuss or issue.
Wilmslow Town Council gets to chose when to use these days and in the past it has made parking free on Saturdays in the run up to Christmas. How they use the next batch of free days is yet to be decided though.
Best regards
Cllr Mark Goldsmith
Residents of Wilmslow
Cheshire East & WTC, Wilmslow West & Chorley
There is, apparently, free (but dubious) parking all year round on footpaths around Chancel Lane/The Cliff!! I can appreciate and identify with the hysterics some contributors are finding themselves experiencing at this time - it's a protective mechanism don't ya know.
CEC come up with some remarkable schemes to accomodate the exceptional circumstances raised by Covid-19 - eg wider footpaths, pop-up cycle lanes and now to ease some of the financial strain imposed on the business community by this damned virus they re-launch (according to Mark Goldsmith who found it necessary to emphasise that it's not even a new or novel idea but a reheated scheme - of genius no less - apologies Mark, it's not personal but it is none the less a pathetic notion offered for a different time and actually another reason).
CEC - muppets, clowns, charlatans, weak kneed wonders and far worse insinuations - these kind of comments appear here with great regularity - it just keeps going doesn't it.