Windsor town centre footfall consistently higher since Royal Wedding

The number of people visiting Windsor since the Royal Wedding has been consistently higher compared to last year.

Town centre manager Paul Roach reported at a Windsor Town Forum meeting on Monday that two weeks before the Royal Wedding, on Saturday, May 19, and ever since then, Windsor has experienced ‘positive footfall’ — meaning it is higher compared to the same time last year.

After the meeting at Windsor Guildhall, Mr Roach told the Express that footfall for the week of the wedding was up 82.6 per cent, with 258,225 people passing the footfall counter in Peascod Street between May 14 and May 20.

He said the busiest day was the wedding day itself, when 54,535 people passed the counter.

“Truly the number is likely to be higher than that by quite a considerable amount,” added Mr Roach, who said a great deal of visitors would not pass the counter on their routes.

“We’ve had a footfall counter in Peascod Street for nearly four years, that’s one of the highest recordings we’ve had for one single week,” he added.

Mr Roach said footfall has been consistently greater ever since, with last week’s footfall being 32 per cent higher.

Despite the good news for the town’s businesses, attendees at Monday’s town forum meeting expressed concerns about inadequate parking for visitors.

Vice chairman of the West Windsor Residents Association Richard Endacott said: “A lot of people are saying to me that we’ve not got enough car parking spaces. Trying to get access to the town has been quite difficult for quite a few people.”

He said several car parks in town do not have working ticket machines, including the one in Victoria Street, which he said has been out of order for about eight months.

Mr Roach said that several big events which result in more parking spaces being used have followed the Royal Wedding including the Windsor Championship Dog Show, the Royal Windsor Triathlon and Royal Ascot.

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead deputy leader and cabinet member for highways, transport and Windsor Cllr Phillip Bicknell (Con, Park) said: “This is a Medieval town and there’s a limit to the number of spaces that can be offered in the town centre. If there’s a problem with a parking machine we can get that fixed.”

He added that the council has plans to spend £775,000 in renovating all of the Royal Borough's parking machines this year which will allow Royal Borough Advantage Card and bank card payments.