One of the unusual annual jobs I used to enjoy when working for the Brigg-based Lincolnshire Times newspaper in the early 1980s was the new year forecast. It was a major article published at exactly this time of year, asking business and civic leaders what sort of new year they were expecting.
We used to contact people like Larry Cassidy of the Brigg and Caistor Licensed Victuallers' Association, and the manager of the Conoco plant at Killingholme (usually an American I seem to recall), plus Albright and Wilson, Brigg Chamber of Trade, Glanford Borough Council and the local rep of the Federation of the Self-Employed. Some took an upbeat view, while others were more than a shade fearful of the future.
Winding the clock forward to the present day, I don't suppose the general reaction would be much different if the Times was still with us and running the same new year forecast.
Brigg firms - other than our very largest stores - face tough times, given the overall economic climate. But I suppose we all have to put a brave face on it. And I'm speaking here as a redundancy victim of 2009.
Returning Brigg's free parking concession would help the town in general and be a well-received gesture of goodwill from the powers-that-be at North Lincolnshire Council. It wouldn't cost them a huge amount in lost revenue but would encourage more people to use the Old Courts Road facility and begin their shopping in the town centre, rather than park at Tesco or Lidl and be tempted to make their purchases at either, or both, of our biggest retail outlets.
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One aspect that local people and Brigg's shoppers have not yet fully grasped in the impending introduction of the Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) in Feb (some reports indicate early March, when NLC, like other local authorities, assume reposibilities from the police for on and off-street parking enforcement.
Within a couple of months, the casual on-street parking that occurs around Brigg's town centre roads will be cease. Streets, such as Wrawby St, near Brians DIY and Bridge St will be regularly patrolled by enforcement officers.
The advantages will be that some motorists who regularly park for hours, even days, along theses streets, thus denying others of a 1 hour parking space will be displaced.......I wonder where?? In consquence, there will be a much higher rate of short-term on-street parking facilities for the visiting shopper making a short visit to one of Brigg's shops.
CPE will create a dynamic change to Brigg on-street parking and it will be up to Brigg folk and visiting shoppers to alert NLC of its short-comings (ie (educated guess) extra cars being parked in Albert St and Colton St) and the need to review NLC car-parking charges.
For info CPE fines - £50 to £70 (50 percent reduction if paid within 14 days)......but increasing by 50 percent if not paid within 28 days (assuming no appeal has been lodged)
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