ALMOST two thirds of town centre traders don't think the Free After Three parking scheme has helped boost trade, according to the results of a new survey.
Of the 54 businesses that were asked to respond to the statement: "the Free after Three scheme has been a success with increased footfall and revenue for business", 31 either disagreed or strongly disagreed.
A further 22 businesses agreed with the statement, and one strongly agreed.
A spokesman for Rochdale Council however, said it was still too early to properly assess how successful the scheme had been, but that it was monitoring the effects.
The survey was conducted by Paul Turner-Mitchell, director of 25 Ten Boutique in Cheetham Street and ambassador of the Observer's Shop Local campaign, who has been leading retailers in their support for the campaign.
He sent questionnaires out to a cross-section of both independent and high street town centre businesses.
Paul said: "I think we need to get to the root cause. There can be no doubt that unfortunately, Rochdale town centre is in a state of decline.
"Public perception, often scathing, mirrors the facts. Consumers want a quality shopping experience or they will vote with their feet, which they are doing, and other local economies will prosper whilst our own local economy continues to decline even further meaning the inevitable closure of further retailers and, particularly, independents.
"I, personally, would have preferred to have seen the money set aside for this initiative having gone to more innovative and radical solutions tackling the real concerns of residents about their town centre and looking at schemes to improve the offer and attraction rather than trying to lure people by simply saving 70p if they come after 3pm."
The Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre has seen an increase in the rateable value of its car park of £70,500 - up 26 per cent despite falling revenue from their car park due the Free After Three initiative.
Lorenzo O'Reilly, centre manager of Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre, said: "Comparing footfall figures for the year to date against 2008, overall, footfall is down 6.4 per cent and if you compare the same periods after the implementation of the Free After Three was introduced, footfall is down 6.2 per cent. "Accordingly, it is entirely evident that footfall has not significantly increased as a direct result of the Free After Three initiatives. If anything, it's the successful letting of units to retailers like Poundland and the newly re-fitted D2 store that have maintained footfall. Obviously, more recently, the newly opened River Island and Redd have attracted increased footfall.
"The move to offer free parking has seriously called into question the viability of the largest car park in the town given, with no significant benefit to anybody including the council, who have seen a huge drain on the council coffers in paying for this initiative."
Martin Ballard, centre manager of the Wheatsheaf Shopping Centre said that while the scheme helped people who already still shop in Rochdale, it would not help to attract new people into the town.
He said: "Rochdale town centre does need support, investment and innovation; a scheme such as Free After Three can help compliment other initiatives but is simply not a driver to make Rochdale a destination of choice.
"We, as businesses in the town, need to strengthen our offer through being able to attract fresh new businesses into the town and produce something that is the complete experience - the redevelopment will help this, but in order for us to survive till it comes to fruition the council needs to be injecting money into additional events, incentive schemes for new businesses to come and test the market, increasing a police presence (and giving them the tools to complete their jobs easier) to make our town more attractive for shoppers to visit.
"The sort of money that has been invested into the Free After Three scheme could have been invested in helping the void units on Yorkshire Street become occupied, which in turn, once marketed correctly will bring people back - the Free After Three scheme makes it easier for people coming to town to park up and not worry - it doesn't make people suddenly think ‘let's go to Rochdale’.
"I would like to see the money invested into helping make Rochdale more attractive as a destination - be it music events at weekends, parades or fairs - or even help towards rates so rather than a void being left a void, a retailer of choice could be given the chance to make a success."
Simon Danczuk, Rochdale's prospective Labour parliamentary candidate, said: "I've always said the best solution is for the council to offer two hours free parking at any time of the day.
"This means people have time to do their shopping but if they want to park all day they have to pay for it.
"The move to offer free parking has seriously called into question the viability of the largest car park in the town given, with no significant benefit to anybody including the council, who have seen a huge drain on the council coffers in paying for this initiative."
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vinay, rochdale (07/11/2009 at 11:13)
pioneersky, Littleborough (07/11/2009 at 14:44)
Ray Stay (07/11/2009 at 18:24)
CASHSNATCHUK, UK (08/11/2009 at 07:44)
Just look at how thriving Bury is, yes its a bigger town,sure, but the market is rammed every day, the Millgate is full of decent shops that people actually want to use and their are quality dining and drinking venues in teh town centre. Rochdale????? Forget it, it will never beat towns like Bury ....not in a million years :-)
Debbie Downhearted, Rochdale (08/11/2009 at 21:36)
And yes it’s about time we re-vamped this town…business rates and such really need to be looked at
I agree Bury has much more to offer for it’d shoppers!
Myron Szymanskyj (09/11/2009 at 20:38)
D.Ashworth, Rochdale (09/11/2009 at 21:52)
Sometimes, repeating the same message over and over allows thick-skinned, un-focused institutions to get it. Unfortunately, as the story of the dinosaurs reminds us, you might get it before you get it.
So here is my starter for 9.
1. Aim to have more than shops in the town centre. Perhaps a roller-skating rink or an ice rink - small but perfectly formed of course, in a central location.
2. Shops that people want, with some diversity that creates sufficient reason to come into town. As a clue, this means no more: Pie shops, charity shops, pound shops, nail shops. Alternatively, place all those types of shops in one quarter of the town, in the same way that they did in the old days. So you had the guild of jewellers, the guild of shoemakers, the guild of diabolical junk makers etc.
3. A break down of the above, but useful for the hard of thinking. We need a book shop. The former Oxfam shop on Bailie St was in fact the previous best book shop in Rochdale. The assistant told me he could source almost any book from anywhere in the Oxfam network. Guess what? He did just that. Shame it is closed.
4. A competitively priced decent shoe shop (that means it sells shoes made of leather not recycled tyres) to vie with Clarks.
5. A men's clothes shop. I am dating myself here, but something that sits around the middle of the road and sells clothes that are not just black. While uniforms are nice, they have their place and I hate that "casual fascist on the way to the allotment" look that is sported by so many people in the town. It's funny really. Lots of these kids hate school uniforms, but wear the above uniform out of school. Isn't life stranger than fiction? Oops, we don't have a book shop so how would one know!
6. A toy shop. Wouldn't that be nice. I could shop with my kids then. Argos is nice when it's cold and you want to meet people, but it's not life as we know it.
7. A fish stall on the market.
8. Bring in TK Max off that middle-of-nowhere retail site and into the town. Get the store buying manager to source the sort of stock they have in Bury too. I can't stand the tut the Rochdale branch stocks.
9. There is a theme coming through here...I wonder if this is a revelation? Like cutting up a large water melon with the seeds spelling out "Leave town, it's you that's rubbish, not the place". I would like to say, I have never had this particular message within the seeds of a water melon. This is just an example, I don't want to sound deliberately ridiculous. If you want to see the water melon then a small donation would be nice though ;-)
I realise it's not that simple to do all these things. The council can only act as a catalyst for fresh enterprise and development. Having said that, you have to put yourself about and be that catalyst. Set expectations of something better, and sell your vision to potential business.
If the town centre remains a flat balloon, then attracting jobs to Kingsway Business Park is going to be an up-hill task. To make a town a prosperous, up-and-coming and hopeful place you have to set out a strategy on several fronts. Then you need the energy, determination and ambition to deliver on that vision.
People who post comments online show they care and want to make a decent fist of things. The town can be turned around, but it will take a lot of militancy, lobbying and persistence from people around the borough.
The folks promoting the shop local campaign are making a start in the right direction. It's a small start, but people should get behind it....and don't be too surprised at the limited impact of individual initiatives.
We need lots of little steps, not one little step.
Up the Dale!
MPs gravy train, UK (10/11/2009 at 01:14)
ps - I did spend a few hundred pounds whilst there. But it is a dump nowadays and I won't be back until it improves.
jill fitton (11/11/2009 at 16:16)
RED2THE CORE (15/11/2009 at 13:54)
What is there actualy to see and walk around and browse in rochdale there is nothing at all its a total shambles,When i need a food shop ill go bury and how nice it is with the millgate centre and its vast divertisy of shops,the rock has the banks and charity shops.
also a little past bury 5 mins max is bolton a ery big shopping town its huge not on the scale of manchester but vast with good parking rates and secure parking with security all over the place.
Lets not mix things here in all the years ive lived in rochdale ok they have ruined the shops and got rid of most of the beggers and drug addicts to a certain point,its not a nice place to live at all,my other haf sas ive never come accross sutch ignorant rude selfish people in all her life with no manners at all,she was born and bed doncaster a nice little south yorkshire town,me im a mancunion and i agree with her ive served the world an if rochdale dont get its act together with parking,shops and town centre and all the housing conditions then it will be no better than iraq or afghanistan to a degree they both have nothing too.
With this free parking after 3pm whats with the parking attendats still cirling untill 2-5 mins past 3pm??????jobsworths even on a sunday they partol for the poor soul who thinks free parking and parks in the wrong zone even though its sunday the day of rest to get back to the car to find a ticket and then he/she rings the black box monday morning to find that he she was parked in a loading bay at 11am on a sunday with no loading at all and the sign barley readable and it says loading 06:00-20:00 weekdays nothing to do with weekends its not asda its the poor town centre.......never change not while im alive and kicking any way,and im 37.
dirty old town dirty old town no prospects t all.
when ive dared to walk into the town centre all i can smell is cannabis all the way down yorkshire st........asian youths the main culprits then the police dont do a thing....