Call for free parking in Thame and Wendover
Bucks Free Press
By Lucy Clapham
26th June 06
BUSINESS owners in Risborough called on the council last week to make car parking free to stop their community from turning into a ghost town.
Members of the Risborough Area Business Group (RABG) met with Robin Evans and Caroline Hughes, from Wycombe District Council, to discuss parking in the town.
RABG believe that customers are being driven away from visiting their shops due to the availability of free parking in nearby Thame and Wendover.
Graham Wiles, RABG chairman, said: "The retailers are starting to close down and when you get shops closing down you get a ghost town.
"What value do Wycombe District Council put on the survival of a local high street?
"They could go a long way to helping us."
The architects of the Risborough 2035 study warned small shopkeepers at a meeting in May they would need to become more competitive if they wanted to stop customers shopping in neighbouring towns.
‘In Thame there is free parking, in Wendover there is free parking – people aren’t coming to us because you can go to the other places for free.’
The study highlights the town's strengths and weakness and sets out the options for future development.
As part of the study's findings RABG called on Mr Evans to make parking in Risborough completely free as they feared parking issues would lead to them being closed down.
Heather Brown, owner of Pickles Deli in the High Street, said: "The town is looking for anything that will improve the number of shoppers on the street.
"The number of people shopping on the High Street has dropped.
"In Thame there is free parking, in Wendover there is free parking people aren't coming to us because you can go to the other places for free."
The town currently has one long stay car park, The Mount in Stanton Road, and one short stay in Horns Lane and although parking costs just 20p for an hour, RABG members are still pushing for free parking throughout the town.
Mr Evans, however, maintained that free parking was not the way forward and would lead to even bigger problems for businesses in Risborough.
He said: "We need to deter long stay parkers and that is why free parking never works.
"Here in Princess Risborough it's a different price structure but it's nowhere near the prices in a big town.
"I think there are issues that need to be addressed because it could do with better resourcement, and if the town is going to grow then logically parking has to be part of that."
By Lucy Clapham
26th June 06
BUSINESS owners in Risborough called on the council last week to make car parking free to stop their community from turning into a ghost town.
Members of the Risborough Area Business Group (RABG) met with Robin Evans and Caroline Hughes, from Wycombe District Council, to discuss parking in the town.
RABG believe that customers are being driven away from visiting their shops due to the availability of free parking in nearby Thame and Wendover.
Graham Wiles, RABG chairman, said: "The retailers are starting to close down and when you get shops closing down you get a ghost town.
"What value do Wycombe District Council put on the survival of a local high street?
"They could go a long way to helping us."
The architects of the Risborough 2035 study warned small shopkeepers at a meeting in May they would need to become more competitive if they wanted to stop customers shopping in neighbouring towns.
‘In Thame there is free parking, in Wendover there is free parking – people aren’t coming to us because you can go to the other places for free.’
The study highlights the town's strengths and weakness and sets out the options for future development.
As part of the study's findings RABG called on Mr Evans to make parking in Risborough completely free as they feared parking issues would lead to them being closed down.
Heather Brown, owner of Pickles Deli in the High Street, said: "The town is looking for anything that will improve the number of shoppers on the street.
"The number of people shopping on the High Street has dropped.
"In Thame there is free parking, in Wendover there is free parking people aren't coming to us because you can go to the other places for free."
The town currently has one long stay car park, The Mount in Stanton Road, and one short stay in Horns Lane and although parking costs just 20p for an hour, RABG members are still pushing for free parking throughout the town.
Mr Evans, however, maintained that free parking was not the way forward and would lead to even bigger problems for businesses in Risborough.
He said: "We need to deter long stay parkers and that is why free parking never works.
"Here in Princess Risborough it's a different price structure but it's nowhere near the prices in a big town.
"I think there are issues that need to be addressed because it could do with better resourcement, and if the town is going to grow then logically parking has to be part of that."
posted by Neil Herron at 11:07 AM
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