North Norfolk District Council are proposing the introduction of parking charges for the Highfield Road car park, opposite Fakenham College. If you currently use this facility and/or if you have objections to the proposal, NNDC is seeking your opinion during their consultation process.

Edit:  This proposal is for a permit-holder only scheme costing £200 per year, I’m led to believe.

Fakenham Town Council will also be discussing the matter further at their main Council Meeting on Tuesday 14 February at 7.00pm at Fakenham Connect.

Letters of objection need to be received at NNDC by the 23rd February and should be sent to:-

For the attention of Jill Fisher
Assets Manager
Property Services
North Norfolk District Council
Council Offices
Holt Road
Cromer
Norfolk NR27 9JA

Here’s an article on the BBC news site about Mary Portas’ report into UK High Streets. She has outlined 28 ideas to help combat the decline of retail, including the cutting of regulation for shops and market traders. As Fakenham’s a market town with retailers who, like the majority others all over the UK, are fighting to survive, you might want to take a look.

The comments on the article are as varied and entertaining as usual. The first ones I read seemed to be pointing out the role that convenient car parking (or the lack of it) and its cost are playing in keeping people from shopping in town centres. It’s a point of view I’ve read recently expressed by local people too.

I’m involved, via Kick Start Fakenham, with a new local business group we’re just starting to organise. One of our ideas is to run a Fakenham shop promotion in 2012. I thought it might be a good idea if we could arrange for free parking in the town while it’s running, as an added incentive to bring in shoppers. What do you think? Is parking in Fakenham still a problem? Does it put you off coming into town to buy locally? Do you use the free parking at Tesco or the Pay & Display? Your views are sought!