SCP5 PARKING
Portas targets parking costs
One of the twenty-eight recommendations outlined in Mary Portas’ High Street Review focused on the provision of free parking in town centres. But if adopted, how will this affect in-town shopping centres which rely on parking fees as one of their biggest revenue generators?
business rates. Number nine on Portas’ list of 28 recommendations states: ‘Local areas should implement free controlled parking schemes that work for their town centres and we should have a new parking league table.’ One of the main draws of out-of-town, as Portas writes in the
T
review, is that “crucially, they understand the importance of free parking.” Before the report was unveiled, the industry waited with baited breath as rumours circulated that her proposals included a tax on out-of-town parking. But the idea was abandoned after supermarkets said they would pass the cost onto consumers. “The ease with which out-of-town retailing can be reached by car means that high streets do not have the luxury of pretending
he Portas Review earmarks parking as one of the main factors that needs to change if high streets are to be successful, along with a review of planning procedures and
that car-based access is not convenient for shoppers. It is,” the report reads. “And yet in many town centres I have visited for this review parking has been run-down, in an inconvenient place, and most significantly really expansive.” In November, a survey of 5,570 UK shoppers conducted by
customer intelligence solutions company, Retail Eyes, now Market Force, found that parking is often a source of frustration for consumers, be it on the high street or at shopping centres. Eighty per cent thought parking at shopping centres was very
expensive and 45.8 per cent said they would be put off visiting a shopping centre all together if there were bad or costly parking facilities. “Seventy-two per cent of consumers we spoke to confirmed
they felt parking was ‘too expensive’ on the high street and 42.3 per cent also said they would only queue for up to five minutes to park
www.shopping-centre.co.uk March 2012 SHOPPING CENTRE
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