February 2016 Box River News Vol 16 No2 Boxford • Edwardstone • Groton • Little Waldingfield • Newton Green PARKING IS FREE IN BOXFORD! KEEP PARKING FREE IN SUDBURY Sudbury’s businesses are proud to be able to offer their customers 3 hours free parking in their District Council Car Parks. However, there is currently a review by Babergh District Council who are considering starting charging for the currently free period and businesses are very concerned by how this will affect their trade. There has been a lot of publicity about how High Streets all over the country are struggling, initially it was the competition from out of town shopping, who not only benefit from being able to offer free parking but also have lower business rates, now it is the growth in online shopping, which again does not have the same high levels of business rates. Reports can be found to show evidence that shopkeepers overestimate the proportion of customers that travel by car. However, these reports relate to metropolitan areas rather than small rural towns where many people have no option but to drive to the shops. Keeping three hours free parking in Sudbury is important to both businesses, visitors and residents as demonstrated in two recent surveys carried out by the Sudbury Town Team. In a survey of businesses in Sudbury Town Centre in January 2014, free car parking was the main issued which was raised as the most important factor to the success of their business in the future. Stephane Chapotot co-owner of The Secret Garden in Friars Street said "business rates are a large proportion of our costs and on top of that as a business we also have to pay for our bins to be emptied, what are these business rates going towards if we are also going to lose free parking for our customers?" Another survey carried out by the Sudbury Town Team and Gainsborough's House of visitors and residents who visited the town centre which come out in June 2015 showed that 31.7% came into Sudbury because of the free parking and 27.3% would like more free parking available. Jane Hatton from the Sudbury Town Team said " Local authorities should see free parking as a service for local people not a short term method to raise money and more importantly as a way of supporting their market towns. It has been proven in other towns that when they lose free parking it discourages people from using the town centre, towns where parking charges have been introduced have then had to offer hours when parking is free to increase footfall but the damage to their town centres has already been done". Chris Storey from Sudbury Chamber of Commerce added "A careful scrutiny of the details surrounding the location of Sudbury, access to the town and other retail centres and the particular challenges of the town centre should make it absolutely clear that three hours free parking is essential if the town centre is not to decline significantly. From a purely economic perspective the council should not have any grounds for bringing in charges. The town is dependent on this for its future prosperity and a more retrograde step is hard to envisage. The Chamber in conjunction with the Town Team remain resolved to fight these proposals and ensure that the town centre can have a long term viable and successful future for the benefit of all, including Babergh District Council. If you have any comments or thoughts on Sudbury losing free parking please leave your comments at http://seeanddosudbury.co.uk/community-news/10154/ or email [email protected] Box River News Eddie Kench, Kiln Cottage, Stone Street, Boxford CO10 5NR Telephone: 01787 211507 e.mail: [email protected] Final date for reserved copy for the March 2016 Issue is: February 15th at noon

Delivered Free to every home in Boxford, Groton, Edwardstone, Newton, Little Waldingfield, White Street Green and Milden and is available to residents in Assington, Leavenheath, Gt Waldingfield, Polstead, Stoke by Nayland, Nayland, Kersey, and parents of children at Boxford School. AROUND THE GREEN AT NEWTON IN THE 1960