Free parking won’t be provided in car parks in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge before Christmas due to Somerset Council’s financial woes, it has been announced.
Shoppers are usually offered free parking at local council-owned car parks during the weekends leading up to Christmas to help promote local shopping.
However, a Somerset Council spokesperson told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Whilst we would like to be able to offer free parking over the pre-Christmas period, given the current financial climate we are not able to do so this year – we anticipate this would cost about £50,000.”
“Our Executive recently declared a financial emergency in response to soaring costs and demands for services.”
“This means we are reviewing all spending, including free Christmas parking to ensure we can continue to protect our core services and look after people in need.”
A Burnham Chamber of Trade spokesman urged residents to support local shops in the run-up to Christmas, adding: “Avoid the queues and hassle of travelling to the shopping malls – support Burnham town centre this Christmas. Burnham has a variety of great independent shops to explore, selling all kinds of gifts – from toys, crafts, games, art and food to books, clothing and jewellery.”
Last month, Somerset Council’s Executive declared a financial emergency in response to soaring costs and demands on services. Councillors voted to agree the declaration at a meeting on November 8th and set out a series of actions it needs to take.
