Streetlife

The whole premise of the Chill Out Zone could be one of an antedate to convention, so let's not get too hung up on car use and therefore car parking.

A number of town centre traders are convinced that there is a lack of car parking space there are other ways of getting into town.

Having a number of dog tethering points would be a way to encourage dog walkers to make the trip (if they don't already).

Try counting how many buses pull into the town centre in the course of a day (scheduled and specialist services like Wymondham Flexibus). Then there's the care homes within a few miles radius who could be encouraged to bring their residents "Down Town" (the lyrics of the Petula Clark are very fitting for this purpose.

If you were to walk for a mile in any direction from the Market Cross, you it would take in a good proportion of the housing in Wymondham.

I'm not the best example to say this because although  I live within that zone, I still succumb to the temptation of taking the car into town.

Perhaps (!!) I'll make it my new year's resolution to walk into town at least once a week.

I drive in from an outlying village (Ashwellthorpe) and I find parking a bit of a nightmare. If I act responsibly and drive to the Back Lane car park it is usually full. I then have to drive back out to the turn-off into Fairland Street and drive through the town until I find a space somewhere. Often I can see spaces in Back Lane from the car park but because of the one-way system I have to drive all the way through town to get to one. I won't pay to park at the Central Hall car park when I may simply want to pick up a prescription or visit the post office. The idea of taking a bus from Ashwellthorpe is fine if you are very organised and come to Wym at the same time every week. I prefer to be more flexible. Lots of people cycle in from Ashwellthorpe. Oh that I had their resolve!
I'm not sure what the answer is but we should all be aware that Wym is expanding and somehow that one, narrow, market street is having to accommodate more and more traffic and people. The more we can stop people driving through to find parking spaces the better.

One small consolation in parking at Central Hall, a percentage of your 50p (per hour) goes to the charity which runs the hall, helping them to pay off the loan they had to take out for the refurbishment.

The car park at the bottom of the hill, offering the first hour free, is often full and is operated by South Norfolk Council.