Town introduces free Saturday parking to attract shoppers

A promotion called Free After 3 has already been used to try to keep customers in the town centre towards the end of weekday afternoons and that has been regarded as successful.

It will continue for at least another year and will be operated

alongside Free After 3.

The new arrangements for Saturdays mean visitors will be able to use all on-street parking bays and car parks operated by Rotherham Council without charge.

Rotherham Council has worked with the Local Strategic Partnership, a body which also includes influential organisations including the Chamber of Commerce, emergency services and voluntary bodies, to organise the new arrangements.

Partnership chairman Brian Chapple said: "A huge amount of effort has already been made to improve the offer, environment and accessibility of the town centre.

"It's great that, through the efforts of all partners, we are continuing this year to be able to offer yet more to our shoppers, encouraging them to come into town and take advantage of the great shops and places to eat we have here." The new parking arrangements are one of a range of ways the council and other bodies are trying to support the town centre, which has been affected by shoppers switching to out-of-town retail sites.

In future there will be more unique town centre and markets events which provide visitors with a different experience to shopping malls.

There has also been intensive work to try to improve the number of independent businesses operating in the town centre.

Business Vitality Grants are used to support small businesses setting up or expanding in the town and there have already been successes credited to the scheme.

Another four new businesses are being offered grants this week and the council's Town Centre Management Team expects more to be offered.

A further four are in the process of working through the grant application process and the council is confident it will soon be in a position where it has assisted 12 independent businesses.

A new bus service was also introduced recently to provide a link

between the town centre and the Parkgate retail complex, giving shoppers the option of visiting both sites rather than having to choose between the two.

There are wide-ranging regeneration projects affecting large parts of the town centre, which should bring long-term improvements to trade by upgrading the area, but the council is keen to ensure that as many shoppers and other visitors as possible are kept in the town centre during the short-term.

In addition to the free parking to be offered in Rotherham, there are also changes being made to on street parking bays' conditions of use.

They are aimed at improving convenience for visitors, while maintaining a turnover of vehicles to ensure a good flow of customers throughout

the day.

Most bays will change from having a one hour maximum stay to two hours, providing more options for the duration of each motorists' visit.

Assistant town-centre manager Bernadette Rushton said: "There are around 2,000 parking spaces in the town centre, but these changes make it easier for visitors to shop at their leisure.

"As always, we would encourage visitors to observe the maximum-stay periods so everyone gets a chance to visit the centre and benefit from finding an easy and free spot to park," she said.

Free Saturday parking arrangements have been used successfully in neighbouring Barnsley.