Test Valley Borough Council have announced they are to introduce more short stay parking spaces in the town and will be running a pilot scheme for 50 reduced rate season ticket spaces in Shepherd Spring Lane Car Park.
These proposed improvements are designed to create more flexible car parking options are in addition to continuing free parking after 4pm, plans for around 23 “Dash and Go” spaces and the “Buy One hour Get One Hour Free” Christmas parking offer.
TVBC Press Release
The Council’s Cabinet on 27 November will consider proposals to publish a revised off-street parking order for consultation. This forms part of the next phase of the Andover Summit review of car parking by proposing additional and more flexible parking choices in the town. The order will propose the designation of shorter stay options in all Council town centre car parks.
As one of the outcomes of the Andover Summit Parking and Signage Working Group, Shepherd Spring Lane Car Park, which is long stay, will be used to pilot a scheme for 50 reduced rate season tickets for the town’s workers. To implement the scheme a change is required to the current fees and charges of the Council and a change to the Off-Street Order.
Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transport, Councillor Martin Hatley, said: “I am pleased to present proposal to the Cabinet to introduce more designated short stay spaces in the Council’s Andover town centre car parks. We are committed to supporting local residents, visitors and businesses alike and will continue our work to create the right conditions to help the local economy flourish. Our plans to improve car parking will help to increase the number of customers visiting stores in the town and improve the experience for shoppers.”
These proposed improvements to create more flexible car parking options are in addition to continuing free parking after 4pm, plans for some 23 ‘dash and go’ spaces and the ‘buy one hour get one hour free’ Christmas parking offer.
This is too little, too late and frankly, it’s just a bit of glitzy window dressing for Christmas. For example, the grossly under-utilised Shepherd’s Spring Car Park needs just a token charge on it to prevent dumping and long-term parking, for example 50p for 4 hours and £1 all day.
The other parks nearer to the Town Centre also need a big shake-up. Swindon has shown the way with its changes to parking. They doubled the time for the same fee, and have found that footfall in the town rose by 15%, the loss in parking revenue less than 50%, but the gain to the town and gain in premises occupied was enormous. So, for the “inner ring” of Car Parks it needs something like £2 for 4 hours. What this does is encourage people to stay in town for longer, to spend more money, not just to shop, but to stay and have some refreshment and socialise more, without the pressures of car parking. If done at the same time as a massive cut at Shepherd Spring, there would not be undue pressure on them, as those wanting to save more would go there instead.
And, it is time to stop this dishonest setting of rates that collect more revenue as the machines don’t give change, and people often have don’t have the right money – all parking fees should be in multiples of 50p. Mind you, then the Council has to resist the temptation to jack up the charges every year: they should see it as a marketing exercise to get more custom, instead of charging more.
I am always a little confused by Test Valley Borough Council’s obsession with free car parking.
In Andover, we are fortunate to have a number of out of town shops that offer free parking; however, I visit the out of town shops, not because I can park for free, but because they are shops that offer the products and services that I wish to consume.
Moving to the town centre, there are not really that many more shops / businesses than those offering necessity products / services such as banks, estate agents, food shops, solicitors etc. Therefore, the problem is not so much the cost of parking, rather the fact that there isn’t really that much to park for. I cannot understand why this is so hard to understand.
I am sure that if Andover had a desirable destination town centre, people would go to town, regardless of the parking cost (within reason).
It is time to stop fiddling at the edges and deal with the big issues; how we create an attractive, modern and functional town centre space that businesses, retailers and consumers want to go to; and how do we create a unique offer and brand, that will allow Andover town centre to compete with nearby centres that are already bigger, better and more desirable. These are the issues, not pop-up shops and free parking – phony initiatives wont change anything….!