The BID will make it easier and more affordable to access services and facilities in Ulverston by addressing two priorities identified by businesses in the town. The first is to make it easier and more attractive for people to visit and shop in the town by introducing an initiative to minimise the cost of visiting Ulverston, and the second is an initiative to help Ulverston to “move with the times” and take advantage of technology.
This will be delivered through two newprojects:
1. Car parking incentives
2. The Ulverston ‘App’
These two projects are summarised as:
Project one:Car Parking Incentives
In partnership with South Lakeland District Council, the Ulverston BID could contribute to a series of free/ discounted car parking promotions to make Ulverston more affordable and accessible to visitors, shoppers and for service users in general. The promotions will draw on the success of previously effective incentive schemes such as the “Super Saturdays” and the Stockbridge Lane trial in Ulverston.
This project will learn from successful car parking initiatives tested elsewhere, such as “Free After Three” used in Chester and since copied by several towns after it was highlighted as good practice in a report to government (Portas, 2011). Incentives will be aimed at customers who might be persuaded to take advantage of under-occupied car parks at certain times of the day or week.
Project Two: Ulverston App
Through the development of a dedicated Ulverston App, there will be new opportunities to share information with customers, making it easier for customers and visitors to the town to plan their visit and easily access information about what goods and services are available at any given time, as well as reserve, collect and purchase the goods and services they desire.
Technology is already changing consumer and community behaviour - how people communicate and how they buy their goods and services. According to Google (July 2013) almost a third of the population (30%) now have a tablet, and twice that number use smartphones (61%). It is a trend with far reaching consequences for the future of Ulverston and this BID aims to ensure the infrastructure is in place to take advantage of these mobile & digital technologies through the new Ulverston App.
These two projects can contribute to more positive perceptions of Ulverston with the costs of car parking no longer seen by some as a deterrent, and the new App providing, enabling and encouraging people to increasingly use the town centre as a leisure and recreational space, at long last able to interact with many more town centre businesses & service providers.
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