‘Mixed picture’ as visitor numbers fall
Maidenhead: Closure of central car park and inflation hit footfall
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The impact of the Broadway car park closure was discussed at a Maidenhead Town Forum meeting last week. The meeting also heard the new Vicus Way car park is being underused.
The Broadway car park closure and cost-of-living crisis have seen declining footfall in the town centre, in a difficult start to the year for Maidenhead shops.
This was the finding of a report discussed at the Maidenhead Town Forum last week.
The total number of visitors to Maidenhead dropped by nearly 30 per cent between December 2022 and January 2023.
Providing an update on the figures, Maidenhead’s town manager, Robyn Bunyan, said: “We’re not a ghost town, people are still using Maidenhead.”
Weekday pre-pandemic footfall relied heavily on lunchtime office workers, with the majority of offices in the town centre now supporting flexible working arrangements.
This, coupled with the closure of Broadway Car Park on New Year’s Eve, means there is a ‘mixed picture’ across the town, said Robyn.
She said: “Some of our larger retailers had a good start to the year. This is not the picture across the town as our retailers in the shopping centre are struggling.”
Maidenhead’s Shopmobility service, which moved from the basement of Broadway Car Park to a tempoary home in the Nicholsons Centre in January, had also seen a drop in usage and a relocation and provision of parking spaces is ‘still on the radar’.
Last week, council leader Andrew Johnson announced that the council was hoping to demolish the Broadway car park at the ‘earliest opportunity’ due to the cost of repairing the unsafe structure.
A successful Where Can I Park? social campaign was launched in January to support residents with alternative parking provisions.
But concerns were raised by Councillor Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) on behalf of the Islamic Trust regarding parking near the Maidenhead Mosque ahead of Ramadan. He was advised that visitors should use council provided maps to promote the best routes for parking.
The change of usage in Maidenhead car parks was down 6 per cent compared to last year, which was a positive note considering the closure of Broadway.
However, councillors discussed how the controversial Vicus Way car park, which opened in December, is still being underused by members of the public.
The meeting heard just 589 cars had been recorded in the £14million facility over a 59-day period at the start of the year. Councillors called for greater publicity for the lesser-used facility.
Hines Meadow appeared to be the favourable option as usage of the car park made up 55 per cent of all parking usage in January.