TORBAY COUNCIL MAKES LAST MINUTE DASH TO SAVE TOWN CENTRE SHOPS!!

Torbay Council plans to offer reduced parking fees at nominated council car parks in December. From Thursday 3rd December, people can “pay for an hour, stay for a day” in selected car parks in Torquay, Paignton and Brixham.

IMAGE: Rodger Walters, Chairman of Torquay Town Centre Partnership

Lockdown has obviously forced people to take to ‘shopping online’. This latest move from the Council aims to try and encourage the general public into taking to shopping locally again and supporting their town centre shops.

Last year Torbay Council made this offer available on Sundays only. Due to COVID-19 and the effect that it has had on local business, the council have decided to extend the offer this year, making it available from the 3rd Dec – 24th Dec in the hope that this will encourage more people to come into the town centres and make use of the local businesses that have struggled so much throughout the pandemic.

Steve Darling, Leader of the Council, said: “It has never been more important for us to support our local businesses. We really hope that Torbay will come out of restrictions at the start of December so people can shop local. With that in mind, we plan to expand our Christmas parking offer so we make it cheaper for people to shop at quieter times of the week. It also allows people to visit without watching the clock: if they need to queue to get in a shop, they don’t need to worry that their parking is running out.”

Councillor Mike Morey, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Culture, said: “Earlier this year, TDA found that around 40 per cent of High Street businesses in the Bay did not then have a website so were dependent on customers visiting in person. We want to make space so we can keep our High Streets safe, so we’ve expanded the parking scheme to help people spread out their visits.”

The Scheme we will valid for the following car parks
Torquay – Lower Union Lane and Union Square
Paignton – Victoria Multi Storey
Brixham – Freshwater and Oxen Cove
The fee of £1.40 will cover parking from when you arrive until midnight the same day. For people using Brixham Central, the £1.40 fee will allow for up to the maximum stay of 3 hours: this would normally cost up to £3.50.