Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has called for free parking for 2 hours on weekends during the Christmas period in Wolverhampton on local high streets, at shopping areas and council car parks, designed to help local businesses in the run up to Christmas.
Gavin has suggested to Keith Ireland, the Managing Director of Wolverhampton City Council, to make the first 2 hours of festive parking at the weekends in December to be free of charge, to help local traders encourage residents to do their Christmas shopping locally.
The reduction in prices for parking could also see a boost in tourism and trade in the city. In a recent Parliamentary debate, High Streets Minister Marcus Jones MP highlighted how offering free parking was delivering a boost to high street businesses.
Commenting on this Gavin said: "Many of my constituents use Wolverhampton City Centre but many of them are getting increasingly attracted to centres such as Merry Hill, Telford and Birmingham. I think Wolverhampton is increasingly missing out. Christmas is make or break for many of them which is why I urge Wolverhampton City Council to back this idea. Many businesses in Wolverhampton employ people from right here in South Staffordshire and the success of Wolverhampton City Centre has a positive impact on many local residents in South Staffordshire.
"Many people complain that they are put off from shopping because of parking prices and instead use the internet to do much of their Christmas shop. With free parking there would be no excuse not to use our fantastic businesses that we have close to our local area.
“In South Staffordshire all the car parks are free and that is why we have so many thriving, small businesses however at Christmas time larger businesses in Wolverhampton seem to suffer and I hope this idea will see a boost in their trade.”