River Street multi-storey car park and the Harpur Centre car park are set to open on Monday, June 15.
With Government guidance allowing ‘non-essential’ shops to open from that date, Bedford Borough Council and the Harpur Centre are working to make it as easy and safe as possible for people to visit.
These car parks will join Queen Street multi-storey, Riverside, St Mary’s Gardens, St Peter’s, Duckmill Lane, Ashburnham Road, Prebend Street and Melbourne Street which have been open throughout lockdown for essential journeys.
The Council has been working with the Harpur Centre, local businesses, partners at Love Bedford, and the Town Deal Board to complete plans for the safe re-opening of the town centre.
The Harpur Centre has remained open to provide essentials to the community throughout the crisis and has already began to implement new measures to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for visitors and employees.
The new measures fully integrate all health and safety guidelines detailed in the Safer Public Places document published by the Government.
Bedford Borough Council teams have increased cleaning, added social distancing measures at the markets, will be placing signage, floor markers and banners reminding people to socially distance, and have been engaging with businesses throughout this difficult time.
Mayor Dave Hodgson said: “We know that people will want to visit the town centre, to visit shops as they open and we have been working throughout the lockdown period to ensure that people feel safe and welcome in our town centre.
“I would urge everyone to keep being mindful and considerate if they visit our town centre, stay two metres apart from other people and follow any signage and instructions shops have in place to keep them and you safe.”
Samantha Laycock, Harpur Centre Manager, said: “Our Centre teams have been working extremely hard under huge pressure, and we are immensely grateful to them, but we know we cannot do this alone. Everyone who visits our Centre will play a part in keeping themselves and others safe by following the official guidelines, instructions and information provided by our teams.”
“We’re making every effort to protect our colleagues and customers, and while safety is paramount, we look forward to welcoming our visitors and non-essential retailers back as they gradually reopen to serve our community.”
Car parks are re-open with normal opening hours and charges in place. Parking enforcement staff are carrying out patrols both in car parks and on-street, and will be issuing fines to people who park unlawfully or fail to make the appropriate payments.
Full details of opening hours and charges where applicable can be found at www.bedford.gov.uk/parking
