Free hour of parking on riverside car park

Wyre Forest District Council is going to be offering motorists a free hour’s parking at Gardeners Meadow car park in Bewdley on Mondays to Fridays between 8am and 6pm.

The scheme is being introduced on Monday, November 6 in a bid to help businesses in the town.

The Environment Agency is introducing a traffic management system due to the flood barrier works at Beales Corner, which will mean, from Thursday, October 19, the bridge will only be open one way to motorists.

This is likely to be the case for the next 18 to 22 months and traders have raised concerns about the impact it may have on the economy in the town.

Councillor Ben Brookes, Wyre Forest District Council’s Cabinet Member for Operational Services said: “Bewdley is very much ‘open for business’.

"It has a unique offering of independent shops, eateries, bars, restaurants and high street retailers, plus the attraction of the historic Bewdley Museum.

"We recognise the importance of doing what we can to encourage people to shop locally and visit the town during these works.

"By offering this free parking scheme during the works we hope it will have a positive effect on footfall into the town.

"The scheme also balances our need to secure income from parking to maintain our services.”

Signs will be put up at the entrance to the car park and information about the scheme will also be displayed on the ticket machine.

Motorists must get a ticket from the machine to benefit from the free hour parking and the offer is not available on the MiPermit app.

The ticket will only be valid at Gardners Meadow car park, it will not be transferable to other car parks and motorists can only use the offer once a day.

If motorists would like to park for longer than an hour, they will need to buy a ticket from the machine or use the app after the free hour has expired.

The scheme is running until March 31, 2025.