By Callum Wright
A new parking scheme in Bingham has gone down well with locals – but some business owners warn it could affect their ability to run shops.
New tariffs and improved parking machines were put in place at Newgate Street and Needham Street car parks in the Rushcliffe Town on November 12.
Between 8am-6pm, people can now park for up to two hours for free with a voucher from a machine, with three hours then costing £1, four costing £5 and anything over four costing £10.
Before the changes all parking was free for 12 hours – which some said meant people were keeping cars there for too long and blocking space for shoppers.
Head of Service for Neighbourhoods at Rushcliffe Borough Council, Darryl Burch, hopes the the new system will allow more people to enjoy Bingham.
“One of the issues that we had here was that because it’s a big car park and it was 12 hours free parking, a lot of people would park here all day,” he said.
“The feedback we’ve had this morning has been really good, people saying actually it’s the first time in ages they’ve been able to come and park.
“Ultimately we are keen to support local businesses and economy, and that can’t be done if there’s nowhere to park.”
The car parks saw plenty of users on the morning of the change, and received a positive reception from those who were going into the town centre.
Jeff Lukomiak, 72, said: “I’m all for it, the problem was before that the car park would be full of people who work in Nottingham [and commute into the city], just abandoning their cars here.
“It’ll very much help during Christmas, especially for people my age coming in.”
Linda Brown, 71, said: “I think [the changes] are really good because otherwise you could be riding round here using fuel, we don’t need to do that, and this morning I came in and there’s no end of space.”
Despite the changes being popular with some residents, there has been a variety of reactions from local businesses.
Sarah White, of Sarah White Boutique on Market Street, said: “People who work in Bingham are going to have nowhere to park, which means they’re going to be just parking on the streets.
“If people can’t get parked to come in and do their jobs then customers will just find somewhere else to go and shop.”
Clive Lancashire, of Clive Lancashire and Son’s Butchers, said: “Hopefully it will turn the parking around and get more shoppers able to work because it’s a massive problem in the town.
“The right time was 15-20 years ago but hopefully it will be easier for customers to get parked with heavy bags so they’re not having to carry them a big distance.”
