'Please only park for allocated time in free car parks' Wakefield Council asks

The decision to reintroduce free parking until January 18 in all Council car parks and on street parking areas has been well received by residents and businesses and will help support the district’s economic recovery from COVID-19.

The council would like to remind people that all other restrictions apply including maximum length of stay time limits – despite being free of charge.

Anyone parking in a council car park or on street parking area should double check the restrictions before they leave their car. Signage is being displayed in all council-owned parking areas to encourage people to check the time restrictions in the area where they park.

Coun Mathew Morley, Cabinet Member for Planning and Highways, said: “We are delighted to see more people visiting our city and town centres to enjoy the shopping and leisure facilities on offer.

“We want to do all we can to support people to come and enjoy our vibrant district, in a way that keeps themselves and others safe by following all the latest government advice.

“It’s important that we make the best use of this free parking so need to stick to the time restrictions in place in the parking areas so that as many people as possible can benefit from it and we maintain traffic flow, especially where we have on street parking. We have a whole range of parking across the district so people can choose from short stay or long stay – and benefit from it all being free of charge!

“We hope this will continue to help protect jobs in our district and support our local economy to recover.”

Stephen Baker, from Baker Furnishings on Northgate, said: “It’s fantastic that the Council have provided free parking to encourage people to come into the city centre and shop. But for many businesses it’s important that we can keep the turnover of traffic, especially in the short stay parking areas. I hope people will understand that by following the parking time limits they are actually helping to support local businesses.”

The council has provided information and guidance on its dedicated coronavirus information web page at bit.ly/CoronaWFD