FREE weekend parking is being implemented by Carlisle City Council, with intentions of livening up high street trade.

Included in the new approach to city council car parks will include free bank holiday parking and a reduction in charge for the first hour of parking during other times - a drop from £1.30 an hour, to £1. 

Carlisle City Council's Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport, Nigel Christian said:  "We’re trying to encourage people to come back into town and start using the facilities in the city centre, giving the businesses in the centre of town a bit of a boost, to help try and get everyone back on their feet in this post-covid era."

The implementation of the new initiative will take place on April 1 and is expected to run until March 2023.

Despite its intentions to revive the city however, the new initiative has faced criticism from Carlisle’s Green Party.

Carlisle Green Party Chair, Gavin Hawkton, said the extreme weather we’ve had recently is a reminder of 'climate change in action'.

"Encouraging more and more cars into the city centre is a poor message to send out from a struggling council that should be working much faster to improve our walking and cycling infrastructure, so that we are less reliant on cars.

"There is also the need to offer cheap and reliable public transport as alternatives to those who are travelling longer distances.

"Nationally the Conservative government is cutting funding to buses which again makes things difficult for residents.

"We have to create better options for people.

"Other cities across the UK have long embraced cycling as a cheaper and healthier alternative to the car and you only need to look across to Europe to see how high-quality walking and cycling infrastructure has created cleaner, quieter and generally more pleasant places to visit.

"Carlisle looks out of touch. If we are talking about increasing footfall into the city centre then we also need to need to think about what it is that visitors and locals will enjoy while they are here.

"Our council doesn't seem to have a clean and sustainable vision for our city centre. What we're presented with is more of the same but with the addition of as many cars as possible in the city centre," he said.