ALTON shoppers are to receive a special gift this Christmas in the form of free seasonal car parking. Members of East Hampshire District Council's cabinet agreed last week to repeat a scheme they ran in Alton and Petersfield town centres last Christmas. In Alton, free afternoon parking will be provided for four hours on Thursdays and Fridays, November 30 and December 1, 7, 8, 14 and 15. And in Petersfield shoppers can enjoy a similar level of free parking on Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting November 29 and 30 and continuing to include December 6, 7, 13 and 14. EHDC facilities manager John Pratt reported that the initiative had been introduced last Christmas following pressure from Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry for free parking to improve festive trade. A footfall survey had been undertaken prior to and during the free parking sessions together with a telephone survey of retailers, and on the strength of this it had been agreed to repeat the exercise in 2006. Already included in the budget, the cost of this year's scheme, aimed at drawing shoppers to the East Hampshire towns, had been calculated at around £20,000. The loss of income at parking meters in Alton and Petersfield was estimated at £9,000, with newspaper advertising costing a further £2,800 and signage an additional £700. Mr Pratt said the December footfall surveys and a report would cost another £2,000, marketing £1,000 and the analysis after Christmas would be £3,000. In his report to cabinet, the facilities manager suggested that shopkeepers in Alton and Petersfield should be asked to promote the scheme and similar surveys should be carried out to determine whether the free Christmas car parking had attracted more people to shop in the towns over the festive period. He said that the effectiveness of the scheme should be looked at early next year to see whether it should be operated in the future.
