Parking Scheme 1 Year Anniversary
Thursday, October 27th, 2011
One year ago we introduced a new parking scheme to car parks. The idea was simple – shoppers who spent over £10 in participating shops or other businesses would be entitled to up to 2 hours free parking in all West Dorset District Council car parks. We felt that this would encourage more shoppers to visit the town, and prompt them to spend a bit more money once they got here!
The scheme was an instant success, and got a great reaction from shoppers and traders alike. The BID subsequently got calls from towns all over the UK who were considering replicating the scheme and wanted to know how it was going.
Since its implementation, many of our shops have reported a boost in low end sales, as shoppers are now more inclined to make impulse purchases in order to qualify for the £10 threshold for free parking. It has proved a superb way to support small businesses in Dorchester in these difficult economic times!
Parking Scheme Year Two
Now as we enter the second year of the scheme, we have combined forces with WDDC to subsidise the participating businesses so they get some of their costs back. Under the new rules, for every 5 vouchers businesses collect from shoppers, they will get £2 back from DBID.
To allow as many businesses as possible to benefit from this support, there is a maximum claim of £200p.a per business. We hope this will make our unique parking scheme even more successful over the coming months, until the end of the current BID term in early 2013.
Fianlly, a reminder that parking is completely free (no purchase needed) after 6pm and all day on Sunday in all WDDC car parks and the on-street parking in High East Street, High West Street and Trinity Street.
Parking will also be free after 5pm on our upcoming Christmas Cracker Night (Of which we will have lots more to tell you on the blog in the coming weeks!)
Click here for a full list of businesses participating in the Parking Scheme, along with a map of the relevant car parks.
