I am pleased to be able to confirm the start date of the Free Parking Deal, and to confirm new late car park openings we are bringing in to support the night-time economy in Bedford Town Centre. The Free Parking Deal will start on November 23rd, after legally-required consultation on the changes to arrangements. So, it will be in place in time for the all-important Christmas shopping period for our town centre traders.
Mayor Announces Measure to Support Shoppers and Boost Town Centre Trade Further
In the face of the unprecedented cuts to local government funding in recent years, we have rejected the approach seen in a number of other areas of passing on the impact of this to hard-pressed local households via spiralling council tax or hikes in fees and charges. That's why alongside three straight years of average Council tax freezes, shoppers' car park charges have been frozen, in stark contrast to the situation elsewhere nearby and across the country. This has been extremely tough to deliver, with extra savings to be found elsewhere, but we've done it because we are committed to supporting town centre businesses and shoppers. Now we want to go further in this aim. So, starting before Christmas this year, I plan to bring in free parking in all town centre car parks on Saturdays for the first two hours of your stay.
Mayor Dave Hodgson's latest monthly article in the Times and Citizen newspaper highlighted the fact that reducing paediatric services at hospitals like Bedford was a recommendation of the discredited, abandoned Healthier Together programme, which the new NHS Commissioning Group have pledged to take forward. There is a real concern that the dreadful current crisis of lost services, which was caused by problems with the supervision of junior doctors, is being used to pursue an agenda of permanent cuts to the services available locally for children.
My latest monthly article for the Times and Citizen newspaper was on the topic of services for children at Bedford Hospital, and in particular the decision of the NHS decision-makers to respond to a problem over the supervision of junior doctors by launching a review of whether paediatric services should be removed from our local hospital altogether.
It was a pleasure recently to help formally open the latest addition to Bedford High Street, The ZipYard. This new store offers garment repairs and alterations, and owner Graeme Mulheron showed me the professional operation they have in place, with on-site seamstresses and changing rooms. As I have said many, many times before, in the current climate which sees High Streets across the UK struggling in the face of prevailing trends such as out-of-town and internet shopping, a visit to town has to offer something more. A service such as clothing repair is obviously not something that you can simply buy easily online, and I think The ZipYard is a very welcome addition to the town.