The supermarket chain Morrisons has agreed to review parking arrangements for their store on London Road in Hadleigh thanks to the intervention of local MP Rebecca Harris.
Earlier this year, Morrisons announced that there would be a three hour parking limit on their large car park at the edge of Hadleigh Town Centre. Anyone staying longer than three hours is currently subject to a parking charge of £60. This led to outcry from local businesses who argued it was hitting footfall in the town centre and damaging trade. Local residents close to the store have also raised frustrations that it has led to increased parking in residential roads from people trying to avoid being fined.
After lobbying by Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris, Morrisons have agreed to review parking levels at their store over the next few months. If the car park is not consistently full, they have agreed to look into introducing a ticket or permit system that will allow town centre shoppers to park for longer.
St James Ward Councillor Jacqui Thornton, who asked Rebecca to intervene said,
"Originally I asked the Council to challenge this via planning enforcement as I don't believe they have the unrestricted right to do it, but I just kept bashing my head against a brick wall. The Council stopped responding. No-one is suggesting that the Morrisons car park should not be primarily used by those who shop at their store, the problem was there was no way of buying extra parking time to go to the other shops or have a meal or coffee out with friends before or after their big. I have been working with local business and they have noticed an effect of footfall. I am very pleased Rebecca managed to get Morrisons to do this review. Anyone who lives in Hadleigh knows their car park is hardly ever close to full."
Kevin Foley, Treasurer of the Hadleigh Community Group said,
“This is an excellent step forward. After nine months of campaigning, Cllr Jacqui Thornton and our MP have managed to get Morrisons to listen about residents needs."
Business owner Emma Horton of ‘Gifts for All’ in London Road Hadleigh said,
“As local traders, we are already suffering loss of trade from the closure of the last bank in the town, when the signs went up from Morrisons it just made it worse, thank you to Rebecca and Cllr Jacqui Thornton for fighting our corner on this, particularly following the apparent silence from the council”
Local MP Rebecca Harris said,
"I am very grateful to Morrisons for agreeing to this review when I asked them. Morrisons is a vital anchor in our town centre in Hadleigh and their local community champions do amazing work supporting local groups and causes across Castle Point. That said traders and residents have raised deep concerns about the new restrictions for their car park and Cllr Jacqui Thornton and others have been campaigning hard against it. I am pleased Morrisons seem to have listened and I look forward to the outcome of their review."
A spokesman from Morrisons said:
"The restrictions we have introduced following customer feedback are intended to ensure that shoppers can always find a parking space. We understand the importance of the car park to the town and will review occupancy levels over the coming months. If there is capacity to do so we would be happy to consider an option which allows people to park for longer periods of time."
