31/01/22: New car parking trial in Attleborough aims to increase high street footfall

As part of its Thriving Places programme, Breckland Council is working in partnership with the Attleborough Town Council to establish a new parking system for Attleborough's Queens Square car park, which will help increase high street footfall and boost trade for local retailers.    

Starting on 21 March 2022, a new parking scheme will be offering a three-hour limited free parking service in Queens Square Car Park only. A similar scheme was successfully trialled in Swaffham in 2019, resulting in increased footfall for the historic market town. 

Currently, any driver can use the Queens Square car park free of charge all day. However, this system has been abused by people leaving cars for days, while Norwich commuters used the free car park before travelling onto Norwich by bus or train, ignoring the shops and facilities in the town. The new trial will examine how the three-hour free parking can help develop a churn in spaces in the car park, increase footfall into the town and bring in more shoppers from further afield, attracted by more accessible free parking and a wide range of independent stores. 

The six-month trial will see a three-hour time limit, with no return within one hour imposed between 08:00 and 18:00, Monday to Saturday, with allowances made for the market traders using the marked market trader bays on Thursdays.

At the end of the trial, the impact of the enforcement will be comprehensively reviewed, and a final decision will then be made on whether to make this change permanent.

Cllr Paul Hewett, Breckland's Executive Member for Property and Projects, commented: "Working with the town council, we are now in the position to implement a six-month trial at Queens Square car park. Breckland Council, and our partners, are fully committed to working on a range of innovative projects  as part of our corporate plan which will support our towns like Attleborough, to thrive and prosper in a post-pandemic society."

Find out more about Breckland Council's Thriving Places Corporate Plan.