Free parking for Bedford town centre is coming vows mayor

Free parking in Bedford’s town centre is coming – but not yet, the new mayor has said.

Four hours free parking every day in all council-owned multi-storey car parks was one of Tom Wootton’s manifesto promises.

“What a boost that would give to the town because suddenly everybody can come in and get a haircut, come for a coffee, or go to the opticians,” he claimed before last month’s election.

He added that as there wouldn’t be “vast amounts” of planning permissions or negotiations, this was something that could happen within the first few weeks of being elected.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the mayor for an update on when the free parking would be starting.

“I’m constrained by the previous guy’s budget,” mayor Tom said. “We’ve got plans, and I hoped it would start this summer.

“What we’re going to do is run a series of trials, so we’re going to pick one or two of [the car parks] and we’re going to run them through until Christmas,” he said.

“There are less people than there were years ago, and one of the reasons might be that they have to pay for parking.

“We can’t wait when we’re a town that’s struggling and we have to do something to help the shopkeepers,” he said.