Shoppers will be given 30 minutes free parking on roads surrounding Fulham Broadway station if Zac Goldsmith is elected London Mayor.
The Conservative candidate made his announcement while visiting the town centre on April 14.
It will cost £80,000 and will be part of a new £2 million Stop and Shop fund, which will be paid from existing underspends identified.
It is in addition to plans announced to give shoppers in Chiswick High Road the same privilege, made during a visit to Chiswick the same day.
Speaking to getwestlondon , the Richmond Park and North Kingston MP said the scheme was a “no-brainer” which had benefitted his constituents, and he was keen to see it rolled out to other popular retail centres.
He said: “We are going to bring in if elected a fund to help councils introduce free parking and help small shops. Based on calculations in Kingston where they have a similar scheme being rolled out we believe £80,000 will do the job here, and we will work with the council and councillors to deliver it.
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“The difficulties high streets, and small and medium independent businesses face is that they are up against trends. There is a change in the way people shop and the high streets are struggling. We could lose something very important in the community and this is a way of helping tip the balance in favour of the high street.
“It’s making it easier for people to support their local businesses , making it easier for people to become customers and shop there.
“It’s been done in Richmond and it’s provided real support for businesses. It’s worked and as a consequence Kingston is doing the same thing.
“It’s something that comes up at pretty much every high street I have visited. Businesses want more helpful parking arrangements to enable customers to support them.
“It will have to be done in conjunction with the local authority but it is a no-brainer - it will bring immeasurable benefits to constituents and the high streets.”
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However, Cllr Ben Coleman, cabinet member for commercial revenue and customer satisfaction at the Labour-run Hammersmith and Fulham Council , labelled the announcement a PR stunt. He said: “For Zac to say this is a problem and this is my solution is arrogant, out-of-touch and not the way we work here. If residents and businesses tell us that 30 minutes free parking would make a difference we will happily look at that. What we do will be in response to local people, not election PR stunts.”
He said parking provisions suffered years of neglect under the Conservative-run council and that it was now working with residents to improve and revive areas.
