The decision by Labour-led Trafford Council not to implement a ‘free after 3’ parking initiative over Christmas has been criticised by Stretford and Urmston Conservatives. In previous years, from early December to mid-January, parking was free after 3pm in all council-owned car parks and on-street locations between Monday and Saturday with an aim of helping shoppers and visitors to the area to shop longer for less in our local shops.
Commenting on the decision not to offer the incentive this year, Steve Dillon, Conservative activist in Davyhulme said “It’s quite unbelievable that Labour is making our town and district centres less appealing for local residents and visitors in a year when many high street businesses are still trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic. This devastating blow for our local retailers comes on top of Labour’s plans to again hike up parking charges in our town centres in 2022. The car parks and roads which are affected by the penny-pinching decision are Golden Hill car park, Manor Avenue and Atkinson Road in Urmston; Flixton Road in Flixton and Lacy Street, Chorley Street, Warwick Road and Brian Statham Way in Stretford.
“This decision by Labour is really bad news for our high streets and no doubt will be warmly welcomed by the Trafford Centre. The good news for residents and businesses however is that Trafford Conservatives have already created a petition on the issue at https://www.traffordconservatives.com/free-after-3 and I would encourage anyone affected by these proposals to sign the petition which will then be presented to Trafford Labour to ask them to reverse this Scrooge-like decision.”
