Happy with parking for a quid in Blackpool? Or should it be free?

Town centre parking is always a hot topic.

With out-of-town shopping centres always ram packed, many shoppers cite free parking as one of the major factors as to why they go there and avoid town centres.

If you go to the big cities like Manchester, parking charges have rocketed in recent years, with many traders blaming the cost of parking for driving customers away.

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Blackpool Council has joined forces with Blackpool BID (business improvement district) to launch two special deals to lure shoppers to the resort.

The park for a pound scheme includes four town centre car parks – West Street, Central, Talbot multi-storey and East Topping Street for Thursday late night shopping on December 1, 8, 15 and 22 between 5pm and midnight, and all day Sunday November 27 and December 4, 11 and 18.

While it was welcomed, many posters thought it should have been free.

Here are your comments:

If locals shopped in town and supported small shops like mine then there would be more of them. You can’t expect shops if you won’t support them. Also there is all day parking for £3.95 by the Regent, or £5 on Adelaide Street, which is cheaper than using the bus.

Gill Payne

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Free, or cheaper than current, car parking charges might encourage us to shop in Blackpool instead of travelling further afield.

North Shore Geezer

This is great news! Preston have really messed up their pedestrianisation of Fishergate, parking is a nightmare. Time for Blackpool to capitalise on that!

Steven Garner

Maybe we should all try and support jobs on the Fylde by carrying out our Christmas shopping here rather than Preston and further afield. The alternative is that we could maybe not support any type of Fylde Coast business.

Wrighty

Make it free like most other places do at Christmas

Simon Hayes

Well done, anything that helps local shops has to be welcomed

Chick McDonald

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Well I did a craft fair at the Winter Gardens two weeks ago and it cost me £12 to park my car. For the day. I’m a local and I don’t go to Blackpool because of this
Linda Deacon

How about you do it all year round..after all it is the locals that keep you in jobs out of season by shopping in the stores

Michelle Burton

Why can’t it be cheap parking for residents in Blackpool anyway, even during the season? It is cheaper most of the time for us to shop out of Blackpool

Colin Wadsworth

Postage cheaper than the parking so why go to the shops? Shop online. Started doing my weekly shop online. No petrol and not putting loads of tempting things in my basket. I avoid Blackpool as much as I can.

Gemma Holden

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You need to get into town first and it’s much easier heading in the opposite direction. The council (not individual parties as they’re all to blame) have made a mess of the road network in this town.

OldBlokeUK

You are really spoiling us Blackpool Council.

Darren Dale

As a visitor to Blackpool every year I find that £12 a day to park is a rip off during the holiday season.Visitors bring in a lot of money to the shops, clubs and restaurants so a fairer charge should be made all year round.

Lorraine McLeod

Free in Bolton for Christmas, but a pound is better .

Vera Yorke

Parking should be free! We pay for cars/insurance/road tax and then spend to keep these shops in business, we live in an era where we just get robbed on a daily basis in my opinion.

Bryan Hall