Green light expected for more free parking

Council Free Parking Launch — Shop owners Kelly Bentley, Alan Ogden and Zaheer Akhmad with Cllr Shoab Akhtar.

SHOPS and drivers are set to get a boost with plans to continue free parking in Oldham town centre for the next 12 months.

And motorists will also be able to park for longer without paying if the £244,000 proposals are given the go-ahead tonight.

A three-month pilot scheme introduced on January 7 allowed motorists to stay for free for two hours in all council-owned car parks, for 30 minutes in street pay-and-display bays and all day at Hobson Street car park on Saturdays and Sundays.

Council chiefs say the initiative, which ends on April 5, has increased the number of people using car parks by 31 per cent. Businesses have also reported increases in sales of between 2 and 4 per cent, bucking the national trend.

The 12-month extension will be decided by members of the council’s Cabinet tonight. It is also proposed that drivers will be able to stay for free for up to three hours at the Tommyfield and Clegg Street car parks every day, and in all car parks on Saturdays and Sundays.

Councillor Shoab Akhtar, the Cabinet member responsible for the town centre, said: “We’ve had excellent feedback from business and shoppers during the pilot and we now need to decide what we are going to do in future.

“The scheme has shown a 31 per cent increase this year in people using off-street town centre car parks, which is excellent news for all.

“An evaluation survey also showed good awareness of the free parking. Around 60 per cent of people said they were aware of it before visiting, and two-thirds of those agreed they come to Oldham because of the offer.”
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