Russell George AM believes that Powys County Council should introduce more flexible parking to encourage shoppers into the county’s town centres.
The commitment to free parking, first launched by the Welsh Conservatives in 2012, will be included in the party’s 2016 Assembly manifesto.
Russell George AM said:
"I want to see bustling high streets, thriving local businesses and positive community engagement. To achieve this, we need to think of ways in which local high street businesses can compete and remain relevant in the 21st Century.
"High streets need to compete with the rise of the internet and out-of-town shopping centres which pose significant threats to the high street as we know it.
"We therefore need to be a lot more innovative in our thinking if we are to reverse the decline of our town centres.
"Free parking, business rates reform, simplified planning, town centre managers; these are just some of the additional proposals which we are proposing to support small businesses across Montgomeryshire."
Welcoming the proposals to local high streets, Councillor Peter Harris, County Councillor for Newtown West, added:
"Small businesses in town centres like Newtown are the backbone of our communities and we don’t do enough to make it easy for people to shop locally.
"The evidence clearly shows that when parking is made easy, footfall soars. Free parking is therefore one of the ways in which the future of our local high streets can be secured.
"I welcome the Welsh Conservatives’ recognition that our high streets require additional support and urge Powys County Council and the Welsh Government to adopt these proposals at the earliest opportunity."