Under Section 3 Vision and Objectives - Economy - 116 - references are made to "improved broadband and mobile phone infrastructure" to enable "the growth of small scale businesses, more working from home and remote working". It is important to note that such improvements to infrastructure have long been promised and are yet to materialise – when will these promises be implemented? Existing businesses in Hingham, such as the pub and the solicitors already have problems for example taking payments with card machines.
It is unrealistic to conceive that in a rural area with a limited bus service, businesses within the “Key Service Centre” can flourish without the provision of adequate public parking. It is essential that businesses can encourage and obtain support from visitors to the town from nearby villages. If the small independent businesses within the Hingham cannot flourish, they will close and residents of Hingham will also have to travel further afield to shop.
Adequate public parking must be addressed, not only for visitors to the town but those residents that need to access local services and businesses using a car due to ill health or mobility issues.
Parking facilities for existing community buildings – within Hingham these are insufficient to support growth and to enable these facilities to thrive. The Lincoln Hall/Bowls Club/Library and the Sports Centre parking areas are inadequate in size to accommodate visitors to these venues during busy times, and it is of concern that the venues will lose bookings and revenue if they cannot provide adequate parking facilities for their potential customers.