Park the Charges: ‘Town centre is going to die,’ says Northampton business owner if improvements are not made

A business owner has warned that “the town centre is going to die” if changes and improvements are not made moving forward in Northampton.

Launched last Thursday (November 5), the Chronicle & Echo’s Park the Charges campaign is calling for free parking at all council-owned multi-storey and surface car parks, as well as the premium on-street parking, on Saturdays and Sundays from November 21 until December 20 – as well as Christmas Eve for last minute shoppers.

We believe this is key to the success of the town centre this festive period and the survival of the beloved businesses at the backbone of the Northampton community into 2027 and beyond.

The Market Square is set to be transformed into what the council hope will be a “magical festive destination” through WinterFest, and it is the Christmas light switch that will kickstart everything on November 21, but parking charges will undoubtedly put people off.

When we first approached WNC on November 3, the authority told us it did not currently have any plans to offer free parking during the Christmas period – hence the launch of this campaign.

The council was approached a second time last week following the publication of the launch of Park the Charges, and a WNC spokesman described scrapping parking charges in the run-up to Christmas as “not a sustainable solution”. You can read WNC’s full response here.

‘We need help every single day’

A Northampton town centre business owner who has spoken out in support of changes to parking is Nina Costache, who runs floristry shop The Bloom Room by Nina on the corner of St Giles’ Street and The Ridings Arcade.

Nina is approaching a year since opening the shop, and it was her passion for flowers and creating arrangements at home which led her to complete a course and launch a business of her own.

Her former two-decade career in the construction equipment industry was completely different from this venture, but Nina wonders why she did not make the switch to creating bouquets and arrangements for all occasions sooner.

When asked her response to what the Park the Charges campaign is calling on WNC to provide, Nina told this newspaper: “I’d like to see two hours of free parking everyday as my shop is closed on Sundays. We need help every single day.

“Footfall is very low at the moment and parking is putting people down for coming to town. We need more shops, but that’s another thing for another day.”

Nina admits that custom is not as high as she wishes during the final quarter of the year, and she believes some of the responsibility lies with customers to choose small businesses and help the town survive.

“We want to bring this town alive,” Nina continued. “The town centre is really quiet at the moment. The footfall is not what it should be. People are going to supermarkets for their flowers because of free parking and it’s easier for them.

“In the town centre, they have to find a space, pay for the car park and then buy the flowers and that affects me. It puts them down.”

The founder made the damning statement that “the town centre is going to die” if improvements are not made – and this is a culmination of the parking situation, too many empty units and more stores needed to create a vibrant space to shop, live and work.

“I ask the council to look at the bigger picture,” said Nina. “What will the town centre look like in the future if more businesses are forced to close? We want a town centre people want to visit, where they can park easily to enjoy shopping and supporting local businesses.

“People are going to Rushen Lakes and Milton Keynes. No one wants to come to the town centre, it’s really sad.”

If you would like to be part of the Chronicle & Echo’s campaign for free parking in Northampton town centre this Christmas, email [email protected].