A FREE after 3 scheme is set to be reintroduced in a town, with plans to plough money raised from the new car park it will operate in back into the area.
Hitchin BID has teamed up with Whitebarn Developments Ltd, new owners of Hitchin’s former sorting office, to launch a new temporary car park on the site.
As well as increasing parking provision in the town, the car park will be free after 3pm and there will also be monthly season tickets available, which will offer a discount.
Money raised from parking charges will be put back into the town and used to develop the sorting office site.
Town centre manager Keith Hoskins said: “Everyone will be using it knowing the money is kept in Hitchin; the profits will be reinvested in the town.
“It will be a profit share with the current owner, which means it won’t be an outside company running it.”
A similar free after 3 scheme was trialled in December, January and February in St Mary’s and Biggin Lane car parks.
It is hoped to start operating the sorting office site as a car park from next week, and continue for the remainder of the year.
There are plans to eventually develop it into a complex comprising of shops, cafes, restaurants and leisure facilities.
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