March 29, 2007 50/07

Thanks to a partnership between the Woodbridge Town Centre Management Group (WTCMG) and Suffolk Coastal, there will be more parking spaces than ever on offer on Saturdays in the busy town.

The car park at Suffolk Coastal’s Melton Hill offices will be open
every Saturday from March 31, 2007 for three months,
in an experiment to free up some of the spaces in the town centre.

“From 7.30am to 6.30pm on Saturdays our Melton Hill car park will open for free parking which we hope will prove attractive to those working in Woodbridge’s shops,” said Catherine Thornber, Suffolk Coastal’s economic development and regeneration manager.

“It is only a three minute stroll from our car park to the Thoroughfare and we want to see if we can divert some of the shops’ workers into our car park, so freeing up more space in the main car parks.

“We know from talking to the representatives of the town’s traders that the main parking problem facing Woodbridge’s shops is the lack of spaces so thanks to the financial support of WTCMG we can offer this extra service that should be a boost for workers and shoppers alike,” added Ms Thornber.

This initiative follows a pre-Christmas bonus when the Council and the WTCMG again linked up to offer free parking at the Melton Hill offices.

“I am pleased that we have again been able to join together in partnership with the Council. Thanks to the Town Centre Management Group meeting the costs it will be free for anyone to park at the Melton Hill car park which has over 100 spaces,” said Marion Wells, the Woodbridge Town Centre co-ordinator.

“We hope it will attract many of the staff working at the shops on Saturdays, so that more spaces will be available to shoppers at the town’s more central car parks. However, I would stress that it is only the Melton Hill car park that is free on Saturdays,” added Dr Wells.