Dorchester FREE Parking on Saturdays in December
Friday, November 8th, 2019The Dorchester BID in association with Dorchester Town Council and in partnership with Dorset Council, are delighted to announce the return of Dorchester free parking Saturdays in December 2019.
The #Park4FREE Saturdays are available in addition to the normal FREE parking on all Sundays in Dorchester. All Saturdays in December leading up to Christmas (7th, 14th & 21st Dec) together with Christmas Eve on Tuesday the 24th December will be #Park4FREE days in all Dorset Council run car parks in Dorchester. Please note that the on-street parking will be chargeable as normal, it is just the car parks that are free.
This initiative will give a great boost to the towns businesses during the important trading period running up to Christmas. It will also give visitors from further afield yet another great reason to do their Christmas shopping here in Dorchester!

A boost for Dorchester shops
Phil Gordon, DBID project Director commented:
“This initiative was well received last year by delighted shoppers and traders alike. It really helped to give the town’s shops a real boost with a little much needed Christmas spirit! This year of all years (in the current climate of uncertainty) we must do whatever we can to assist the high street. Dorchester is such a great destination offering Christmas shoppers a great mix of small independents and high street brands. I applaud the Council’s decision to support the local business community in this way. It is so vital to the long-term prosperity of Dorchester to have a healthy, vibrant town centre.”

An opportunity to support Dorchester
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for Highways, Travel and Environment said:
“We’re delighted to offer residents and visitors free parking in our Dorchester car parks in the run up to Christmas. This is a great opportunity for local people to support Dorchester as a Christmas shopping destination.”

Get in the Christmas spirit
Neil Strudwick, DBID Chairman also commented:
“This is great news and I can tell you that the Council’s decision to support this request will go down very well with the town’s traders. Its tough out there in the high street these days. The added incentive of FREE parking days will help to get everyone in the Christmas spirit early this year! We had so many positive comments from visiting shoppers, business owners and residents last year that we were desperately hoping the Council would see the importance of doing their bit to boost the local economy! They have, which is really important for our County town and we welcome it as a annual initiative hopefully.”
