No free parking at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole this Christmas

Neighbouring New Forest District Council is offering four days of free car parking in its towns, including the weekend before December 25. 

Shoppers in Bournemouth town centre have offered their opinions on the decision, saying the council should be offering free parking to get people using shops. 

• Is this a good move from the council? Write a letter for publication to letters@bournemouthecho.co.uk

However, BCP Council has argued that by lifting parking charges in the run up to Christmas, around £200k of revenue would be lost. 

Bournemouth resident Mike Jones said free parking would be more likely to encourage him to shop in the town centre rather than online. 

(Image: Corin Messer)

The father-of-two said: “It’s so easy to get what you need from Amazon or eBay that you forget there are shops that sell the same thing. 

“But also it is usually cheaper online too, so maybe that’s the problem and not free parking?” 

Dawn Spencer, 61, said: “The council does need to do more to encourage people into the town centre and free parking would achieve that. 

“Especially during Christmas, it might lose out on money from parking fares, but why don’t they call it their gift to businesses?” 

But Poole resident John, smoking outside a Bournemouth town centre pub, disagreed: “There needs to be something to come to.” 

Mike Cox, deputy council leader (Image: Daily Echo)

He said he wants to see more shops in Bournemouth town centre before parking is looked at, describing the dwindling retail as “the bigger problem”. 

Mike Cox, deputy leader of BCP Council and cabinet member for finance, said reintroducing free parking at Christmas would result in £200k lost. 

He said that money would go towards statutory services. The council has been asked how many days of free parking the £200k would cover. 

Cllr Cox added “The decision to permanently remove free Christmas parking was made in 2022. We have been open and transparent about the financial challenges the council is facing.

“Like all other local authorities this means looking carefully at where the council spends its money and prioritising services that support our most vulnerable residents.” 

Parking fees rose once again in April, taking some one-hour stays up to £2.90 - following on from the axing of 20-, 30- and 40-minute stays in Bournemouth and Poole’s car parks. 

At the time, BCP Council expected the price rises to generate an extra £2.5m in revenue this financial year, which will be put back into council services.