Another nail in the coffin to m'bro town centre shopping

Boro_is_in_my_blood said:
The proposal from Middlesbrough council to remove the free parking at captain cooks square car park and bring in paid parking.
This will lead to less people using the town centre and more shops closing and moving to retail parks. Well done again MC.
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I thought everyone used the bus to get to town judging by the number of bus lanes.
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
It will impact some people but I doubt very many. If you already own a car, pay for fuel, and are going to town to buy things then I don't think parking charges are unexpected or bank breaking.

I believe studies have been done on this in the past which are usually quoted in these business cases that have shown that free parking for 2 hours, for example, actually hurts footfall because people will only stay for the duration of the free parking out of fear of parking fines, rather than spending longer term in the town centre or getting the bus to avoid it. This hurts restaurants and other places where 2 hours isn't enough to get shopping done as well as having a meal so people pick the more important one, and entertainment services. Some lances have gotten around that with longer free working but free parking is ultimately a cost and not a small one.

Businesses often shout the loudest about it, but probably don't even study how their customers get to them.


It only becomes a no brainer if the shops/things you need are at Teesside park for you to go there. In which case you would probably go to Teesside park anyway, seeing as Teesside park is already free and right by the shops you'd actually be going to. If people live really close to boro they would probably not avoid boro because it costs £1.50 to park there.

I really like Teesside park but the shops there are quite limited. It makes sense for larger stores, but even there to maintain occupancy they're having to split larger stores up into smaller units.


www.sustrans.org.uk

Free car parking not good for high streets

Having unlimited free parking can actually hurt high streets by attracting people who are making other trips to park there all day – perhaps to commute within a walking distance of their workplace. This means retail customers needing to arrive by car can’t find a space.
www.sustrans.org.uk www.sustrans.org.uk


Think reduction in retail space is key for Stockton and they're going the right route. Middlesbrough taking the approach to repurpose retail as well as to attract people to town and enhance night economy is also good.
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There aren't many more shops that Middlesbrough offers that Teesside Park doesn't have.

With paid parking, it isn't always the cost but the fumbling about for change that prevents people from going. Not all the car parks in Middlesbrough are fitted with card readers or pay by phone. I recently parked up near Albert Park and had to pay by phone by quoting a code for the area. This took me the best part of 20 mins to register and for it to accept my debit card (no doubt it will be quicker next time). If I wasn't going to the dentist, I think I would have given up and gone elsewhere.

Arguing against myself, I recently went to The Metro (free parking) to get a link put in my watch strap (shop in Middlesbrough closed down) and was surprised at how many empty units there are inside it.
 
Colin Warnek said:
Paying a quid to park shouldn’t make a big difference. The town centre has many problems but whether parking is a quid or not isn’t one of them
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Your extremely niave to think it's not a problem almost everywhere parking charges have been introduced its had a negative effect on trade and footfall. As ideas go it's amongst the stupidest
 
Boro_is_in_my_blood said:
The proposal from Middlesbrough council to remove the free parking at captain cooks square car park and bring in paid parking.
This will lead to less people using the town centre and more shops closing and moving to retail parks. Well done again MC.
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They are carrying through massive cuts - 40% effecting children's services, the end of the Events team who run all public events,Orange Pip to Reindeer Parade etc and everything I do.
Where do you make priorities? We may see significantly less street wardens etc.
Some awful choices. Neighbouring Redcar council are really ramping up car parking. £8 a day Pinchinthorpe and Roseberry Topping.
Where do you draw the line and make the choices?
 
fmttmadmin said:
They are carrying through massive cuts - 40% effecting children's services, the end of the Events team who run all public events,Orange Pip to Reindeer Parade etc and everything I do.
Where do you make priorities? We may see significantly less street wardens etc.
Some awful choices. Neighbouring Redcar council are really ramping up car parking. £8 a day Pinchinthorpe and Roseberry Topping.
Where do you draw the line and make the choices?
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There are no easy choices, but we do have some.
First port would be to scream and shout about the injustice of it all, and demand change from central government; Sadly the council leadership under Preston and Mieka Smiles- his Tory deputy, are refusing to do- even condemn.
 
Davey_C said:
Take next, m&s and primark away and what exactly are you left with ... A town centre no different to any other HOF, Debenhams, TJ Hughes, b&m all long gone with several others judging by the number of empty units. How many town centres have 3 shopping malls?

Stockton has realised this with the demolition of the castlegate
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Stockton have seen the future issues with Town shopping and driving forward. Meanwhile they are looking in the rear view mirror and see Middlesbrough Town center lacking behind and fading into the distance.
 
I haven’t been in to Middlesbrough town centre for years and there is nothing to tempt me there. The only place I go to when I’m back on Teesside is Teesside park. Maybe they should make TP bigger and better, effectively amalgamating Middlesbrough and Stockton.
 
TheLodger said:
That's the Tories and their Independent mates for you.
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I was in Norwich last week and paid £4:50 for 3 hours, now THAT is criminal. And like the Boro their City center is becoming a shambles, closed shops, empty market stalls, it's just a sign of the times.
 
Last couple of occasions I have gone into town looking to buy new clothes - I found myself massively underwhelmed with the choice of shops. For a 50 (ahem) Yr old, historically I could always get decent clobber in Binns, before they got Ashley'ed. Even found decent labels in Debs.

Now I just wander around in a daze. Even the missus can't help, and she is a professional standard shopper.
 
fmttmadmin said:
They are carrying through massive cuts - 40% effecting children's services, the end of the Events team who run all public events,Orange Pip to Reindeer Parade etc and everything I do.
Where do you make priorities? We may see significantly less street wardens etc.
Some awful choices. Neighbouring Redcar council are really ramping up car parking. £8 a day Pinchinthorpe and Roseberry Topping.
Where do you draw the line and make the choices?
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I use to holiday regularly in Devon with the family and noticed the parking creeping up. The wife kept all the parking tickets one year and we got charged in the region of £180. We've never been back. Putting parking up will only drive people away and not invite them in and this is what will happen at Roseberry & Pinchinthorpe.

In France, it is very rare you get charged for parking in towns unless you go to their equivalent of a NCP.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
I use to holiday regularly in Devon with the family and noticed the parking creeping up. The wife kept all the parking tickets one year and we got charged in the region of £180. We've never been back. Putting parking up will only drive people away and not invite them in and this is what will happen at Roseberry & Pinchinthorpe.

In France, it is very rare you get charged for parking in towns unless you go to their equivalent of a NCP.
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This it just puts people off, id be much more likely to go to retail park, I often don’t have change on me, I hate those text to pay or online / automated call to pay options, they are absolute cr6p and sometimes take ages. I don’t mind pay on exit car parks as I don’t need to stress about how long il be but pay and display I hate with a passion and actively avoid.
 
Priv said:
This it just puts people off, id be much more likely to go to retail park, I often don’t have change on me, I hate those text to pay or online / automated call to pay options, they are absolute cr6p and sometimes take ages. I don’t mind pay on exit car parks as I don’t need to stress about how long il be but pay and display I hate with a passion and actively avoid.
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I struggle to get the tele's voice control to understand me and have no chance when you've got to say an answer to an automated call. Computers just don't understand South Bankish.
 
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