Parking loyalty scheme plan after fall in town centre visitor numbers

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Portland Street Car Park in Beeston. Image credit: Google.

By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

Broxtowe could get a car parking loyalty scheme to encourage more people to visit and shop in town centres after footfall declined in some areas.

Broxtowe Borough Council’s Cabinet met yesterday (February 5) and discussed decreased footfall across the borough’s towns.

The council brought in new car parking charges on sites it runs from January 1 2024, after saying the service was no longer covering its costs.

The new charges ended an hour of free parking, and introduced £1 charges for two hours, £2 for three hours, £3 for six hours and £15 for more than six hours.

Tuesday’s meeting was told by Greg Dwyer, head of corporate services at the council, there was “no correlation” between the new 2024 parking charges in the borough’s towns and the amount of footfall across town centres.

Councillor Greg Marshall (Ind), Deputy Leader of the Council, said he thinks the picture is “mixed”.

The footfall in Beeston in June 2024 following the new parking charges was 261,206 compared to 313,392 in June 2023- but an increase in footfall was also shown after parking charges were introduced in early 2024.

Car park usage in Beeston dropped from 20,216 in June 2023 to 13,376 in June 2024.

In Stapleford, Footfall was 68,525 in June 2023 dropping to 49,064 in June 2024 but an increase of people in the town was observed following the new parking charges in early 2024- but car park usage data was “erratic”.

In Eastwood, footfall in the town shows a decline from over 120,000 around March 2023 to stabilising to around 80,000 by October 2024 with car park usage not returning to the same levels last year as the year prior.

Some of the footfall and parking usage data is skewed following the introduction of three weeks’ of free car parking during the Christmas period in 2024, similar to a two-week period in 2023.

Foster Avenue Car Park is located outside the council’s offices in Beeston. Image credit: Google.

Cllr Marshall said: “I wouldn’t say there’s no correlation, I would say there could be some correlation with parking charges.”

He speculated that lesser overall footfall could be due to increased online shopping, the cost of living and the “demise” of retail and town centres but added: “I don’t think its as stark as some of the doomsayers were originally saying.”

Cllr Philip Owen (Con) said he finds the ‘no correlation’ comment “very hard to believe”.

He added: “We told you that [lesser footfall] would be the case.

“What amuses me even more is, we hear that there is absolutely no correlation between car parking charges and footfall and car parking usage, that’s what we were told at the very beginning.

“So what do you do at Christmas? You give them parking- what’s the point in giving them free parking on the basis of your policy if it wouldn’t make the slightest bit of difference?”

Cllr Marshall responded “tradition”.

Cllr Milan Radulovic (Ind) said: “If you look at footfall, every single town in Broxtowe has been absolutely hammered by the banks closing.

“When I walked across Eastwood I looked at the banks, building societies, estate agents that used to operate together- the number of empty buildings was frightening and that has been the biggest decline in town centres.”

The leader added there are plans to “reward customers for their loyalty” with a scheme that would look at customers receiving free parking in town centres if they spend a certain amount in shops.

This scheme will be put to the council in March 2025.

The council made around £165,000 in the 2023/24 financial year from car parking charges, with this income expected to increase to £400,000 to £420,000  in the current financial year until the end of March 2025.

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