Footfall affected by roadworks! So keep car parking free?

Much has been made about the fall in the numbers of people shopping (known as footfall) in St Neots. On page 30 John Davies, of the Town Centre Initiative, takes a different view. When the footfall survey was taken in mid November 2009 resurfacing work on the A1 was taking place and this may have distorted the results.

Mr Davies goes onto say the new Health Centre had increased footfall. So something the Town Council and many local councillors opposed mainly because of the congestion and loss of retail space, has actually added to the economic health of the Town Centre.

So one of the reasons, lower footfall, for opposing the introduction of car parking charges could actually be because of the A1 roadworks!