It didn't come as a shock when I read that Babergh District Council were considering scrapping free parking in Sudbury but if the plans do go ahead I can't see the town centre lasting much longer.
When I walk through Sudbury I always feel like it has so much potential to be an amazing shopping destination but isn't quite there.
Don't get me wrong, I love Sudbury and always will, but I do feel in the last few years that it has gone a bit downhill and is just missing something.
Babergh District Council announced last week they were considering getting rid of free parking in Sudbury, Hadleigh and Lavenham, three locations that rely heavily on it.
The plans will apparently help the council balance out their books as offering free parking costs them around £425,000.
Currently people get three hours for free in Sudbury but that could all soon be changed if the new plans go ahead.
I think it would be a bit of a kick in the teeth to make people pay to park in a town centre full of charity shops, hairdressers and coffee shops.
Sudbury has lost a number of huge stores over the years whether that be Winch and Blatch, M&S Food, Fat Face, Dorophy Perkins and Burtons, shops that I think people would pay to visit.
That's not to say Sudbury doesn't have some incredible shops because it does.
Sudbury has a number of great independent shops, a lively market and a beautiful park but I feel they would lose business if free parking was scrapped.
These businesses are already battling online shopping and, if they lose customers because they are being made to pay to park, then that could be the final nail in the coffin for our high street.
Whilst I can understand that parking fees earn money for the council, I still feel that free parking would tempt a lot more people into coming to Sudbury.
Sudbury should not be compared to the likes of Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich because we cannot compete with them. They have a lot more to offer than we do. They have shopping centres, chain stores and bigger and better transport links.
But that doesn't mean we should take steps to push people towards those places even more than ever.
In 2018 a blueprint for the long-term future of Sudbury revealed plans for a new cinema in the heart of the town centre as part of a regeneration project by Babergh District Council, and this is something that I feel would really benefit not just Sudbury but the surrounding villages.
The cinema doesn't even need to be big - we just need a two or three screen cinema with a few restaurants and I believe more people would come into the town and be happy to pay for parking.
I fear Hadleigh and Lavenham will also suffer if they lose free parking.
The free parking is such a benefit for the town as it attracts people in, from and around Sudbury and I feel if people were charged to park in the town centre, more of them would travel to places like Bury St Edmunds and Colchester to do their shopping.
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