Town council to look into costs of possible free parking in Powys town

Free parking could be possibility in Builth Wells before Christmas, as the town council looks into the cost.

The council would like to give town businesses a festive boost by offering free parking on the six Saturdays before Christmas – but it will depend on the cost.

Builth Wells Town Council received an email from Welshpool Town Council recently which said they have approved a 26-week trial of free Saturday parking at the Powys County Council owned Church Street car park, running from April to September 2026.

Welshpool council clerk Richard Williams said they are badging it as a “Pay What You Can” initiative, with parking remaining free and any contributions entirely voluntary.

He added: “It followed a short pilot during the Christmas period, where they sought to gather evidence on the impact of removing parking charges.

“Whilst car park usage did not show a clear visual increase during that period, they undertook a business survey which returned very strong positive feedback, with over 80% of respondents reporting increased footfall, longer dwell time, and improved trading conditions.

“As you may be aware, there is increasing discussion across Powys around parking and town centre vitality with other towns also pursuing the free parking model offered by Powys. However, a key constraint we have encountered is that Powys County Council will only permit full suspension of charges, rather than alternative tariff models, which limits the flexibility of town and community councils to design locally appropriate solutions.”

He said Welshpool council had asked him to engage with other towns in Powys to find out if they have similar concerns, to share evidence and learning from their trial and to explore whether there is merit in a collective approach to Powys County Council regarding parking policy, particularly around flexibility and economic regeneration.

Builth Wells Town Council clerk Louise Hammond said; “We implemented a similar scheme shortly after Covid-19, offering a month of free Saturday parking at The Groe, which was a great success.

“We could put money in the budget for next summer but we are a much smaller council than Welshpool with a smaller budget and I don’t think we could sustain free parking over a longer period of time.”

At that time Builth Town Council offered free parking on Saturdays during December but it was not cheap and members said it cost them about £3,000.

Councillor Gwyn Davies said he would bring it up at a Chamber of Trade meeting too.

He suggested the council find out how much it would cost if the town council paid for six Saturdays in November and December, to give people free parking and if the costs would vary depending on which car park they used.

Members agreed to find out the costs and consider it again at the May meeting