Is free parking the answer to Rochdale town centre's problems?

Phil Buckley (Denis Hope menswear manager), Simon Danczuk MP, Duncan Harrison (Beales department store assistant manager) and council leader Richard Farnell

Last week Rochdale Council announced three free hours parking after 10am in council owned town centre car parks from April 2015. The council says the move is a "bid to increase trade".

The council is to be applauded for seeking to help hard pressed town centre retailers and there is no doubt that free parking will resonate well with those who do frequent the town centre and who are heartily fed up of being chased by over zealous traffic wardens. For far too long councils have used parking charges, along with concomitant fines, as a surreptitious means of revenue generation.

However, evidence suggests free parking will not of itself have the outcome the council, and of course town centre businesses, hope for.

The retail vacancy rate (i.e. empty shops) in Rochdale town centre in December 2008 was just 4.8%. In April 2009 'Free after Three' parking was introduced, with the rationale that free parking after three would support town centre businesses by encouraging shoppers back to town. Yet by December 2009, the number of empty shops had rocketed to 19.3%.

Free parking on a Saturday was introduced in August 2010, again with little impact as the level of empty shops now stands at a whopping 22.7% - way above the national average of 13.5%.

Retail expert Paul Turner-Mitchell, who was included in the 2011 Drapers 100 Powerlist as one of the most influential people in retail fashion and is a former Chairman of the Rochdale High Street Foundation, says: "The cost of parking is not the top priority of shoppers when choosing their destination. A good mix of shops and services in a quality environment are some of the most important factors in attracting visitors. If both these are poor, then changes to parking or accessibility, are very unlikely to make a town centre more attractive."

Free parking in council car parks may also have an impact on the revenue of private car park operators, which include the new owners of the Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre and the administrators of the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre (who are currently seeking a buyer for the centre).