Free parking all day in Dunmow. That’s what most shoppers and business owners seem to want, but, how would that work?

The answer is not at all well – car drivers, shop workers, people travelling to London, even holidaymakers, would park all day and stop genuine shoppers coming into town.

So a form of payment and enforcement is required, via the ticket machines in Dunmow.

Now we have two problems. Although Uttlesford District Council (UDC) own the car parks, North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) are responsible for monitoring tickets, fines and bad parking.

The Town Team has been working with UDC and NEPP to make the new MiPermit pay by phone parking easier to use with a ticket machine upgrade.

The finish times have now been re-instated back to 5pm and we have also asked what happened to the “extra” money charged from 5pm to 6pm over the past nine months.

We are discussing a more lenient approach from the traffic enforcement officers.

Make sure you park safe and legal, we want to encourage more shoppers into our town, to visit and enjoy the experience of Dunmow and if you have ideas we would be delighted to hear from you.

Just be aware if you leave your vehicle on double yellow lines, park up the kerb or overstay your time in the car park, you have been warned.

Dunmow is a historic market town and your Town Team wants to encourage more shoppers to the High Street.

The Great Dunmow Shop Local scheme, the Dunmow shopping bags, the Dunmow token, special offers from the shops, the installation of a defibrillator for any health problems – these are all initiatives from your Town Team, but if anybody has a love for Dunmow and any fresh ideas we would be delighted to hear from you.

We value your support and if you would like to get involved with the Town Team and have a few hours to spare to help that would be great. You don’t have to be a business, if you are a resident who would like to get involved then please do.

• Please email us at greatdunmowtownteam@gmail.com