Residents and businesses in and around Attleborough have until 6 October to share their views on Queen’s Square car park trial, after Breckland Council extended the feedback period.

The council is asking for people to give their thoughts on the trial, which has been in place at Queen’s Square Car Park for the last six months and finishes on 29 September. The trial aimed to increase local parking availability and footfall on the high street. Until a final decision has been decided upon, the parking trial restrictions will remain in place.

Breckland Council has been trialling restrictions which allow people to park for free up to a maximum of three hours, with no return within one hour, imposed between 08:00 and 18:00, Monday to Saturday. Allowances have been made for the market traders using the marked bays on Thursdays. The council’s other local car parks were not included in the trial and remain available for long-stay use, alongside privately-run car parks.

Cllr Paul Hewett, Breckland’s Executive Member for Property and Projects, commented: “The car park trial in Queen’s Square car park, which is part of our Thriving Breckland programme, examines how a three-hour parking offer could help increase the churn within the car park, which releases spaces for more drivers and brings more people into town to support our local shops.

“We’ve had some really useful feedback already but we want to ensure everyone has a chance to comment on how they feel about the trial approach, so we have extended the feedback period by a week, through until 6 October. We’ll then look at all the feedback and consider the next steps.”

Cllr Philip Leslie, Mayor of Attleborough commented: “We have welcomed the car park trial and look forward to examining if more people visited the towns shops and services. The trial has offered us a unique chance to review how shoppers use local car parks. We are aware of the need for long term parking alternatives and are working with Breckland to identify solutions.”