Wrexham Open For Business
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All Wrexham County Borough Councillors have free car parking.They have free use of the Guildhall Car Park from Monday to Friday. The Guildhall Car Park is also available free to some Council employees but I have no idea who they are.
The point I was making was that if Council employees were the majority of the long stay parkers in the Peoples Market and were paying for parking,which I believe they do.The reduction from £3 to £2 will not be of much help to the Wrexham Open for Business Campaign,but a great help to Council employees.Hence the remark ‘looking after their own flock.:)
So if they council change the cost of parking to 20p an hour in the council run carparks, who is going to pick up the shortfall that the council will lose in terms of revenue from the car parks?
Many people still won’t shop in Wrexham, so it won’t entice everyone back. Those that do come back will quickly find themselves going again because the carparks will be full and no one will park. Word will get around that there’s no point going to Wrexham cuz you can’t park and then we’ll be back to square one again. Then what services will Wrexham and the people of Wrexham have to be denied to make up for it?
@justjojo2011 16530 wrote:
So if they council change the cost of parking to 20p an hour in the council run carparks, who is going to pick up the shortfall that the council will lose in terms of revenue from the car parks?
Many people still won’t shop in Wrexham, so it won’t entice everyone back. Those that do come back will quickly find themselves going again because the carparks will be full and no one will park. Word will get around that there’s no point going to Wrexham cuz you can’t park and then we’ll be back to square one again. Then what services will Wrexham and the people of Wrexham have to be denied to make up for it?
That sounds like council logic/excuse to me ;);) as I have said on another thread look what free, yes free parking has done for Prestatyn, go take a look at Prestatyn as an example, it has transformed a town that was pretty much like Wrexham dying on its feet..
People (particularly motorists) seem to believe that car parking should be free or as cheap as possible. However, car parking has to come at a price. Motorists expect a metalled surface with good drainage. Motorists expect good lighting plus security. Motorists expect marked-out bays to park in (given that some motorists can’t park in a straight line). And they expect some sort of monitoring or control to make sure that everyone pays. Remember the old car park where Simplygym is now? Do we want to go back to those days?
@steveg 16578 wrote:
People (particularly motorists) seem to believe that car parking should be free or as cheap as possible. However, car parking has to come at a price. Motorists expect a metalled surface with good drainage. Motorists expect good lighting plus security. Motorists expect marked-out bays to park in (given that some motorists can’t park in a straight line). And they expect some sort of monitoring or control to make sure that everyone pays. Remember the old car park where Simplygym is now? Do we want to go back to those days?
That all sounds like car parks in Prestatyn, Broughton, Trafford Center etc. etc. all free parking ;)
Wrexham has to do something to attract people in! not distract them as is happening now, and car parking in Wrexham is a big factor…
I just want to add to MP1953’s argument. The developers in Prestatyn recognise the basic economic fact that to charge top dollar for the units that they are renting out, the businesses that rent their shops have to have footflow……lots of it. Accordingly, the developers provide a free Car Park which is rammed full and all of the shops therein are working flat out. As MP1953 has commented, rightly, and on numerous occasions, this has helped turn the town of Prestatyn around. This is a win for the town, a win for the shoppers who can park conveniently, it is a win for the developers, it is a win for the shops themselves. Even the Indie sector has enjoyed the spin off as shoppers descend on the town and shop further afield up the hill.
The price of the Car Park and its repair is not an issue because the maintenance comes out of the overall take to the developers.
Can we compare the Prestatyn model to Wrexham and can we use the logic thereof? If you delve into the commitment that Wrexham Council has in the area around the 3 markets you would actually find that the Council has perhaps 150+ shops and market stall units/shops which it rents out. For those of you into figures, I’m sure that the rental take (actual and potential) is available. Potentially the figures are mouth-watering.
When I had my small shop in the South Arcade, I was paying £760.00 a month rent (+ rates) and when all of the rents are aggregated it makes a scary figure.Seemingly, the traders are under pressure in the Markets and it is not surprising. Firstly the rents in the private rental sector are now more competitive than the Markets (hence one element of the trader flight), secondly, the landlord of the Market (the Council) seemingly cannot draw any link between low or free Car Parking charges and a fully let Market. Why is this? One reason is that, in the past, the Market landlord raked in the rents and did not get used to the obvious idea that busy fully let Markets do not just happen; like everything else, they need cultivating. What the landlord actually did in the past is spend the revenue on anything but the Market and the revenue from the Car Parks went in the same direction.
It is only of late that as the golden goose appears to be on its last legs that the Council have suddenly realised what the Prestatyn developers knew all along. To accumulate, you have to speculate and invest. Now I don’t wish to teach those who run these things how to suck eggs, but this is not rocket science. That said, I do sense that the new Council Leader has grasped what is needed…I just hope that it is in time…
@Alunh 16606 wrote:
I just want to add to MP1953’s argument. The developers in Prestatyn recognise the basic economic fact that to charge top dollar for the units that they are renting out, the businesses that rent their shops have to have footflow……lots of it. Accordingly, the developers provide a free Car Park which is rammed full and all of the shops therein are working flat out. As MP1953 has commented, rightly, and on numerous occasions, this has helped turn the town of Prestatyn around. This is a win for the town, a win for the shoppers who can park conveniently, it is a win for the developers, it is a win for the shops themselves. Even the Indie sector has enjoyed the spin off as shoppers descend on the town and shop further afield up the hill.
The price of the Car Park and its repair is not an issue because the maintenance comes out of the overall take to the developers.
Can we compare the Prestatyn model to Wrexham and can we use the logic thereof? If you delve into the commitment that Wrexham Council has in the area around the 3 markets you would actually find that the Council has perhaps 150+ shops and market stall units/shops which it rents out. For those of you into figures, I’m sure that the rental take (actual and potential) is available. Potentially the figures are mouth-watering.
When I had my small shop in the South Arcade, I was paying £760.00 a month rent (+ rates) and when all of the rents are aggregated it makes a scary figure.Seemingly, the traders are under pressure in the Markets and it is not surprising. Firstly the rents in the private rental sector are now more competitive than the Markets (hence one element of the trader flight), secondly, the landlord of the Market (the Council) seemingly cannot draw any link between low or free Car Parking charges and a fully let Market. Why is this? One reason is that, in the past, the Market landlord raked in the rents and did not get used to the obvious idea that busy fully let Markets do not just happen; like everything else, they need cultivating. What the landlord actually did in the past is spend the revenue on anything but the Market and the revenue from the Car Parks went in the same direction.
It is only of late that as the golden goose appears to be on its last legs that the Council have suddenly realised what the Prestatyn developers knew all along. To accumulate, you have to speculate and invest. Now I don’t wish to teach those who run these things how to suck eggs, but this is not rocket science. That said, I do sense that the new Council Leader has grasped what is needed…I just hope that it is in time…
Exactly Alun very correctly and eloquently put, but surly it shouldn’t be rocket science to anyone:rolleyes:
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