Bedford Borough Council should adopt a parking pricing strategy to help the many small and family businesses that make our town centre unique, according to Conservative Councillor Roger Rigby. These businesses are currently facing the unprecedented challenges of high rents, high rates, internet shopping, out of town retail sites and fierce competition from Milton Keynes.
Cllr Rigby, who is a representative of Bromham & Biddenham Ward said;
‘My family have been small business owners in Bedford for nearly 100 years. My grandfather started an ironmongers and general store and my father started the family hairdressing business that my brother continues and I have retired from. Until the 1960s the car had little impact on those businesses. Then car travel became the preferred mode of transport and this Council’s predecessors built most of the car parks we have today.
‘Bedford is very well served by the chain stores but what gives any town a special feeling and difference is the number of small and family run businesses offering unique shopping experiences and very often a personal service. However, these very businesses are the ones that are most often pressured by the overheads of high rates, rents, reduced consumer spending and falling profits.
‘The Council is the guardian of Bedford’s town centre; it can help businesses large and small or hang millstones around their necks as the town’s current high parking prices do. Whilst the success of the town centre is not just about car parking, parking prices and availability are probably now the first factor determining which town the shopper visits.
‘The two hour free parking initiative on Saturdays is welcome but shows at best the Council’s ad hoc approach. It ignores the rise of internet shopping, out of town retail destinations, cheaper parking charges in Milton Keynes and free parking in other towns. The Council needs to pay tribute to the uniqueness of independent traders by creating a competitive car parking strategy that would make a real difference to them and the vibrancy of our town centre.’