Six-month extension for free parking pilot to be approved

Council bosses are due to give green light to a full calendar year of Free for Three in Paisley

A free parking scheme that has been trialled in Paisley looks set to be extended for another six months.

The Free for Three initiative, piloted for the last six months in the town centre , allowed drivers to park free of charge in five car parks for three hours.

Council bosses are now due to approve an extension to the pilot programme at Wednesday's meeting of the Leadership Board so more data can be gathered about the impact of the move.

New parking meters have been introduced at the five car parks in Orchard Street, Weighhouse Close, Hunter Street, Oakshaw and School Wynd. These need  vehicle registration numbers to be entered and allow drivers to pay by card as well as coins.

The pilot has led to a dramatic increase in drivers using the car parks, with a 56 per cent rise in transactions recorded during the trial compared with the same period in 2018.

Meanwhile, there has been a four per cent decrease in transactions during the pilot at the council’s non-pilot car parks.

The Paisley Centre multi-storey and The Piazza Centre experienced a drop in numbers of cars, while the Piazza also said footfall remained static.

Documents prepared for the Leadership Board say: “The Paisley Town Centre Car Parking Working Group met on February 6.

“The working group proposed that in order to build upon the data that is available, the pilot be extended for a further six-month period to have a full calendar year’s worth of data on the impact three hours free parking across the five car parks has on Paisley town centre.

“The working group agree more detailed economic analysis was required. Only a sixth of BID [business improvement district] businesses responded to the business survey and, although footfall data is available for the Piazza Shopping Centre,it was agreed that more detailed economic analysis was requested to show the impact that the pilot has had on the economy of the town centre.”

Paisley First - the town’s business improvement district which initially suggested the idea - carried out a business survey which showed 80 of 97 respondents had received positive feedback from customers about the pilot.

More than half of the firms which responded also reported an increase in footfall, while almost 40 per cent said they had seen a positive impact on sales.

Paisley First advised firms close to the car parks offering Free for Three had reported an uptake in sales, while those further away had not seen an impact.

The BID also carried out a public survey, which showed almost all of the 544 respondents said they had taken advantage of the scheme on visits to Paisley while the majority also said the three hours free parking had encouraged them to use the town centre more.

However, motorists have complained about the lack of clear signage in the car parks showing they were part of the Free for Three scheme. The council said it will take this on board.