KNUTSFORD’S Mayor is calling for free parking in the town and across Cheshire East over the crucial Christmas and January sales periods.

Cllr Stewart Gardiner is deputy leader of the Conservative group on Cheshire East Council, and he and group leader Cllr Janet Clowes have put a proposal to the council to suspend parking charges from December 3 to January 17.

Cllr Gardiner said: “I was prepared to support Janet’s suggestion [to suspend parking charges] because I know from being a Knutsford councillor that charging for parking is an issue.

“If we were looking at a Knutsford model I would be arguing for King Street and Princess Street car parks being free, probably starting at 10am or 11am, as most people who come into town to park in the town centre will park there.

“This would be saying to people – come and shop here. You can do all your shopping in Knutsford, and last Christmas I purchased every one of my Christmas presents in the town.

“Our Knutsford businesses are probably looking at 80 per cent of their income in the run-up to Christmas, if not more, and there will be traders in all town centres who will be thinking about whether they can survive beyond Christmas.

“Free parking will not make a huge difference to your spending power. However if you go elsewhere, traders who might be reliant on a small number of purchases to keep them above the breadline, will go under.”

The Conservative group has launched an online petition seeking public support for the free parking call, which it said would offer the borough’s town centre traders with an essential boost once the current lockdown ends, while encouraging residents to shop local.

Cllr Clowes said: “Covid-19 has had an immense impact on businesses, families and individuals, and despite significant Government support for businesses throughout the pandemic, our wider economy now and in the longer term, is dependent on ensuring our small and medium businesses are able to maintain trading.

“Too many Cheshire East businesses are struggling to weather the Covid storm, and if they fail the potential associated loss of business rates, redundancies and rising demand for council services must be an important consideration for this council, at what is normally the busiest time of year for town centre traders.

“This council’s support of economic activity during this critical period in the run-up to Christmas and January sales is vital.”

Janet acknowledged there would be a financial cost in relation to this proposal at a time when this council is experiencing significant financial pressure and has suggested a number of measures to help.

She said: “We suggest that only Cheshire East-owned car parks, that directly serve the borough’s towns, be included in the scheme and that the ‘free-parking’ offer is restricted to specific times.”

Janet said any potential loss would be further mitigated by the implementation of a scheme that adheres to specific times when the offer will be in place and the exclusion of non-town centre /service centre car parks from the scheme.

She added that the council would also still be able to claim back from the Government any loss of car park income on those car parks that are not included in the scheme.