Free evening parking introduced in Aberdeen city centre

Free evening parking has been introduced in city centre car parks in a bid to “extend the day”.

The council scheme, which launched yesterday, offers free parking between 5pm and 8am at car parks including Chapel Street, Denburn Street, Frederick Street and West North Street.

It is hoped the six-month trial of the Alive After Five scheme will encourage more people into the city centre in the evenings.

And the Bon Accord & St Nicholas Shopping Centre will also offer free parking in Harriet Street and Loch Street throughout the pilot.

Councillor Marie Boulton, spokeswoman for the City Centre Masterplan, said: “You’re retaining people who have maybe been working all day, you want to keep them in the city because if you go home after work it’s very hard to come out again.

“It’s about trying to get people into a new way of thinking so they think ‘I’ll go straight from work rather than going home’.

“It would be really good to make it permanent and to make our city open and accessible to all.”

Aberdeen Inspired is supporting the scheme with an Alive After Five campaign, celebrating the evening and night time economy Aberdeen city centre provides and encouraging residents to become tourists in their own city.

Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said: “Essentially we’re looking to extend the day for the city centre, bringing people in and enjoying the night time economy.

“We’ve looked elsewhere at Newcastle and we’ve seen opportunities here where if you give enticements such as free parking then that has a real positive effect on numbers coming in to use your city centre.

“I hope the public out there in Aberdeen and the wider north-east take the opportunity that the city centre is presenting here.”

Bon Accord & St Nicholas Centre manager Craig Stevenson said: “I think it’s worth trying to see if it can give the economy a bit of a boost.”