try to get people into the town centre more

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1 ... initative/

Is anyone really put off going into the town centre because of paying 70p?

No I am put off as its crap, put some decent shops in there and I might visit the place. I only go in when home now if I have an eye appointment or if its a cousins birthday and I buy some aftershave from the cheapy shops.

I don't drive so don't know the cost of parking but lot people complain about being charged to park. Surely if there a way of attracting people to the centre then maybe if it has more visitors than better quality shops may come to it.

Parking is free after 4 and the town is also open till 6 so you get a canny 2 hour window then.

It's also free on sundays.

the 70p parking charge doesnt put me off, the fact the shops are a bit gash puts me off.

Just park in morrisons and walk over.

I understand that Bob but surely if you want to go to the town centre and the 70p charge is offputting then you would simply park elsewhere or walk?

Cant see it making any difference at all.

Half the cars I see in there anyway have blue badges so park for free.

Anything I can get in our town centre I can get in a supermarket or local shop.

Anything I can't get in those shops that I want I can have delivered to my door or I have to go elsewhere to buy.

As Compo said the town centre is shit and when you walk up the ramp and see the kind of people that fill the place it makes you feel shit that's why people don't use it, nowt to do with the cost of parking that's an excuse used by those who won't admit they just don't like the place.

Is the 70p for 2 hours or just first half hour/ hour . I just saw it thought it may be worth trying in town. Seems as if it wouldn't from a quick survey of replies on here though.

Could it attract more users to the Mill House centre(someone was complaining in letter in mail other day how fire alarm went off and he ended up getting a £60 fine) Maybe more to Hartlepool museum /marina etc if those car parks are free for couple hours (I know Mill House one not, I'm unsure of marina one). I pointed out the town centre but those car parks charge as well don't they.

I imagine the Marina car park being free would make a difference although you can always just park on that long road down there for free anyway.

Regarding the 70p, Just a number i picked out of fresh air, been a long time since I set foot in the town centre to be honest. If I needed a Greggs or Pound shop there are plenty outside the town centre now anyway.

Mill House car park being free would just mean it was full of people who work in the town centre 5 days a week.

The parking charges on the Marina (Navigation point) stopped quite a few people going down there, though didn't kill it as much as the closure of Garlands did, despite the fact that the charges are as legally enforceable as me telling all the bunkerites they owe me a tenner a head everytime a Darlo related post is made.

70p for an hour is what i was charged last saturday when i parked near king johns, i think if that charge wasnt there like alien life says it would just encourage the works to park, you'd have to limit to the 2 hours like boro.

2 hours free at mill house would be good, and i'd certainly consider going more, no one is really in mill house more than 2 hours (gym, swimming, 5 a side etc)

[color=#BF00FF]Not sure how many folk go to the trouble of driving to town and staying the half hour (70p fee)? In Chesterfield it starts at 70p and hits £2.20 straight after. Recently the town has lost a brilliant music shop (Hudsons) which folded due to council rates. Next is following and Monsoon is not far behind them. The towns ' pride and joy', The Shambles is a collection of here today-gone tomorrow type shops. The out door market has been given a modern 'Zeppelin shed' which now obscures the Victorian former market hall.
While resisting the sheer madness of near-by MeadowHELL, we tend to stay in the village and get shopping and Toffs Hartlepool '78 shirts ......DELIVERED. color]

I was just thinking yesterday that nothing infuriates me more than parking charges.

It seems these days that this Government/councils won't be happy until they have drained every single last penny out of you.

I do everything to avoid them. Thieving chunts

I'm more infuriated with the silly bastads who keep picking the wrong Euromillions balls out of the pot to be honest.

I'm also more than a little bit peeved with whoever wrote the computer programme for the lucky dip machines as they never put the correct numbers on my ticket either.

Parking charges are way down the list of things that even mildly upset me, and if the fkers can sort out a jackpot winning Eurolottery ticket for me then I will pay to park with a smile on my face every time I'm sober enough to venture out in my car.

You'd be able to count on one hand how many days I'd spend in this country per year If I won the EuroMillions

It's free parking on the motorways like.

It's more than none then.