Drivers using Chiswick’s central car park on Chiswick High Road spend an average of £268 per car, according to a survey carried out by a local councillor earlier this month. The survey highlights the value of Chiswick’s central car park to the local economy.
Carried out on a quiet Saturday afternoon during half term, the survey involved interviewing 46 drivers using the car park over two hours. Drivers and their passengers spent between £1.50 to over £6,500 on a variety of products from stationery to kitchen equipment. Most of those interviewed came from outside Chiswick – from Acton and Brentford to as far away as Ashford and Buckinghamshire. Only eight of the 46 drivers were from within Chiswick.
Councillor Joanna Biddolph, who carried out the survey, has been asking for an assessment of the impact on the local economy of proposals to remove 14 parking spaces from the car park. After fears the assessment may never be carried out by Hounslow council, the local Chiswick Gunnersbury councillor decided to do the research herself.
For two hours, from 13.50 to 15.50, on Saturday, 11th February 2023, Jo interviewed 46 drivers as they left the car park. It was half term when many Chiswick residents go away, and during the Ireland v France rugby game with many watching indoors, so Chiswick was much less busy than usual. Parking enforcement officers were on strike and it was notable that several drivers parked for longer than the maximum two hours, knowing they wouldn’t be fined. The result was a lower turnover of spaces and, therefore, a lower spend per hour.
“From just two hours on a quiet Saturday, it is clear how important to the local economy these parking spaces are – because our shopping choice is exceptional,” said Jo Biddolph, Conservative councillor for Chiswick Gunnersbury. “Traders who I have told about the potential loss of 14 spaces are horrified and extremely critical of the council for considering yet another anti-business policy. Losing these spaces would mean losing a massive £15,008 a day minimum. It is incumbent on all councillors and officers to incentivise traders and their customers to do business in Chiswick, not drive them away from our town by not enabling driving and parking in our town.”
Notes to editors
- A chart showing who spent what is attached.
- There are 50 spaces in the car park. If every space is filled for the maximum two hours, that is 200 drivers in an eight-hour day, spending an average £268 each, or £53,600 a day. On the day of the survey, many drivers parked for less than two hours, so typical spending per day could be higher.
- The value of the 14 spaces at risk of being removed is £15,008 a day.
- The 14 spaces flood and need drainage, not removal.
- Shoppers came from Acton, Ashford, Brentford, Brook Green, Buckinghamshire, Camberley, Chiswick, Colindale, Dorking, Ealing, East Acton, East Sheen, Epsom, Greenford, Hammersmith, Heathrow, Henley, Hillingdon, Isleworth, Kew, Marylebone, Osterley, Queen's Park, Ravenscourt Park, Sandhurst, Shepherd's Bush, Twickenham, Wembley,
For further information please contact:
Cllr Joanna Biddolph on 07976 703446 or [email protected]
