Extend Free Car Parking call

FOLLOWING NEWS that the East Riding Council is to suspend council car parking charges during the three weekends leading up to Christmas, then there has been a call to extend free parking all year round.

The move to suspend charges at council car parks, for the third year running, is set to be approved by the Council's ruling Cabinet meeting on 2nd November, but has been advertised early so that Christmas shoppers in the region are aware of the suspension and can choose to shop in the East Riding and boost the local retail economy. Councillor Stephen Parnaby OBE, leader of the council, said recently: “For the past two years this initiative has helped to bring shoppers to the East Riding in the run up to Christmas."

However, Andrew Allison, the coordinator of the local Tax Payers Alliance organisation has now urged the council to make the suspension of charges permanent in some car parks: 

"I hope the cabinet will approve the free Christmas parking scheme for the third year in a row. It is essential to bring in as much trade as possible, and this is one of the ways of doing it. I would also urge councillors to look at extending free parking all year round in some of its car parks. For those people who only want to pop into a couple of shops, 15-30 minutes free parking would also help boost trade."

The debate will be followed with interest locally. The Council had indicated that following a review of car parking charges published earlier in the year, that implementation of any new charges in three of Hedon's car parks would be deferred until a decision on building a new 'Park & Ride' facility near the town had been made.

The 'Park and Ride' project did not go ahead, and so new charges might now be expected to be implemented locally in 2012.