An hour of free parking in Newport could be on the cards in a bid to bring shoppers back to the county town.
Newport and Carisbrooke Community Council (NCCC) this week put money for the pilot scheme in its budget and is now only waiting for the sign off from the Isle of Wight Council.
As part of a Shaping Newport and NCCC proposal, the parking pilot could be launched for a year in some of the town’s car parks including Chapel Street, New Street, Lugley Street and Sea Street.
The community council is stumping up £40,000 for the pilot, replacing the majority of the Isle of Wight Council’s lost revenue, with the larger authority covering the rest of the predicted £50,000 cost.
Free on-street parking on roads such as the High Street had been suggested, but rejected due to fears of added congestion and retaining the spaces for those with mobility issues.
The pilot has been welcomed by Mark Horton, owner of popular Newport cafe and sandwich bar, French Franks, who said parking in the town was among the most expensive in southern England. He said:
“Parking is continually cited to us as a major barrier to coming to town for small purchases, such as lunch ‘on the go’.
“For us, short-term street parking would be ideal as it is a quick turnaround and convenient, however, we welcome anything which improves the current situation in any way for the whole town and is desperately needed.”
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Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, a member of NCCC, Shaping Newport and the Isle of Wight Council’s cabinet member for regeneration, business development and regeneration welcomed the pilot and said it had been a long time coming. She said an upturn in people coming to the town was expected, with people parking longer ultimately helping the town recover from Covid.
If the pilot is successful, it could lead to the permanent introduction of an hour’s free parking in the eligible car parks.
For the pilot to go ahead, the Isle of Wight Council will need to agree its costs in the budget next Wednesday 23rd February.
Stable door and Horse come to mind.
Now Newport town and all the other towns have been ruined It will take a lot more than one hour of free parking to put it right …but nice try.
At last, a sensible idea
Why,? so local residents have to pay increased council tax to encourage more non locals to travel into their home town. If overall parking was reduced to compete with free parking in Lidl, Morrison and Matelan that would encourage more,what you going to do in 1hr – coffee and cake in Costa or burger in McDonald’s.
Why will it cost £50,000 to give one hours free parking?
It says in the article, to cover for lost revenue that the IW council would have made, and then forcing the town council to make up the difference.
Very strange……?
I think that the £50,000 is the amount they are likely to lose by not charging for parking. It’s not overly clear in the article and I wondered about it too.
At last a bit of common sense. I recently visited Wooton Bassett . 2 hrs free parking and the High Street was vibrant. Not one empty shop .
Yep, same recent experience. Paid £1 in Swanage that gave you 24, yes 24, hours parking. No wonder the place was busy with people taking relaxed time to enjoy all the shops and other outlets. It’s simple, stop screwing the car users that would like to spend time in any location and encourage people to spend time and money
still cheaper to shop online. newport is a ghost town the council with its high tax finished that off
Some shops would be great too
To little too late!Newport is a dead town…
Yep, even the football club have f**** off !
They are so disconnected if they think free parking will bring shoppers back to town.
Shopping has changed and it’s time to move with it.
What can you do in 1 hour should be 3 hours
Browse through all the charity shops and put on 1-2 bets, plus have a costa coffee on the run.
I would certainly shop more in Newport if this happens.
Shop where in Newport please?
Hardly rocket science to figure out that if you charge people for just trying to do their basic shopping or for stopping somewhere for a moment to make a quick purchase, people won’t stop anymore.
“What!. Lose the income from parking meters. We’d sooner have empty shops!”
One hour is not enough, If you are serious about any form of regeneration this has to be a minimum, this is yet another example of why the high street is in the mess it is, no serious forward thinking.
Good idea, took long enough but should be 2 hours ,gives you time to do some shopping and have a coffee or a snack .
Why can’t these councillors get it through their thick heads that there is nothing in Newport worth going in for? It is a rundown dump full of empty shops. As for the parking being “free” for an hour, it will not be, we will be paying for it in higher council tax bills.
Oh such a benevolent gesture from our great council, sarcasm and irony intended.
Another thought, are they tyring to ‘box tick’ on the city status application form?
They wouldn’t do anything for the peasants benefit!
Now your parking in the right spot
1 Hour free car parking in the car parks, that’s because they are removing most of the on street parking in the High Street, and the loading bays.
They just keep coming up with ideas, but unless a lot of shops open in Newport, more are going to close as the out of town shops built on greenfield sites attract all the customers away.
Too little too late, we were in Yorkshire before Christmas ,every town centre had free parking to encourage shoppers , towns we visited were busy and actually had shops !!
Please could someone explain why so much parking in Newport is limited to two hours, whether you pay or not? I would love to spend a few hours shopping, have a leisurely lunch, maybe explore the historic areas, visit Quay Arts, stay for a coffee before I leave. There are still a few nice shops left but this policy seems designed to kill them off. Honest, it puzzles me!
From the young-ish 30 perspective: I don’t have a car and I still don’t go to Newport often despite the fact I couldn’t care less about parking spaces – I would much rather bike on RST, get Afternoon’s Tea at Albert’s Cottage, play golf, grab grub in Cowes etc. It’s just nothing there in Newport. City centre is a giant concrete pan smelling of petrol, narrow sidewalks, all crowned with a McDonald. It’s not designed as a leisure area. wwhy would I go there if I have so many other, less industrial places? Going to the hospital or getting your keys copied, sure – but actively choosing Newport centre as a fun time would be criminal.