ONCE again we read about ill-considered proposals for changes to car parking in Great Malvern.

Do the people who make the suggestions and decisions actually use the town or try to make a living by running a town centre business?

Where are the long stay car parks in Malvern? They are at the bottom end of Church Street, meaning that anyone wanting to use the proposed cheaper car parks must walk up the hill to the Worcester Road if they wish to conduct business there.

From our experience many people will not bother to walk such a distance, particularly if they have to carry purchases back to their car.

There is also the worry for shoppers that they are under pressure to return to their vehicle before their ticket expires or face the prospect of a fine.

Shoppers in Great Malvern are becoming a scarce commodity as more and more visit out of town shopping centres such as Townsend Way. In the pre-Christmas shopping period there were frequently queues of vehicles waiting to get into the Townsend Way car parks while Great Malvern appeared no different to a normal day.

At the out of town shopping centres vehicles can be left without the worry of overstaying the time limit and shops can be visited without having to climb steep hills.

To make Great Malvern a vibrant shopping area, cheaper or free car parking is needed, particularly for the Worcester Road area.

On-street parking needs to be properly controlled to prevent what are supposed to be limited stay areas from being abused.

Where car parking charges have been introduced in Malvern we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of vehicles parked along the roads. Malvern Link station and the hospital are good examples of this.

Malvern’s specialist shops are in decline, as we have seen recently with Beacon Books and more will follow unless footfall in the town is increased.

After two winters with severe weather conditions, when people were unable to use the town centre car parks, many shops will have lost customers who are now out of the habit of visiting the town as they had to find alternative ways of shopping.

They need to be encouraged to come back to the town, not discouraged with long walks from the car parks or higher car parking charges.

Events and attractions need to encompass the whole of Great Malvern and not be restricted to the normally cordoned-off Church Street.

Malvern can be a unique shopping experience, but the district and town councils need to employ some joined up thinking to attract visitors who will spend more time enjoying the town.

Pre-Christmas takings in our gallery were only just above half of what we would normally expect to take in December and the weather, for a change, was almost springlike.

If other outlets experienced similar figures then Great Malvern will soon become a ghost town!

BRIAN PORTER
Chairman, Malvern Hills Art & Crafts Guild