Parking Dismay as calls to halt sale of ‘crucial’ car park rejected
APETITION calling for a rethink on plans to sell a publicly owned Cheltenham car park has been rejected amid cries of “shame” and “rubbish” at a busy council meeting.
Around 1,000 people had called on Cheltenham Borough Council to take Idsall Drive car park in Prestbury off the market.
The site currently has 10 short-stay spaces but council chiefs say it is underused and costs the taxpayer around £4,000 a year. And the authority decided last year to put the two-hour maximum stay car park up for sale.
Dozens of people sat in the public gallery in the Municipal Offices as Councillor Stephan Fifield (C, Pittville) put forward the petition at last week’s council meeting which requested a review of the decision. He told the meeting that the car park is a “crucial” part of Prestbury both socially and economically.
“This petition is indicative of the democratic necessity to have this debate and for councillors to listen here tonight,” he said. “It is the only car park that is free in that area that provides access to the local high street.
“Every single local owner of a business on that high street is against this sale. Many of the people in the gallery are against it too, residents who go to St Mary’s Church are, frankly, dismayed by the idea the only key car park is going to be taken away.”
Cllr Stan Smith (People Against Bureaucracy, Prestbury), who supported the petition, spoke of how important the car park is for the village. He also spoke of a lack of parking and problems in Mill Street.
“It is part of the village,” he said. “It’s the hub, parishioners for the church use it on Sundays and funerals at weekdays. You take the car park away and that’s going to make it even worse.”
He also said businesses would suffer if the car park was taken away.
Both his comments and Cllr Fifield’s were met with a round of applause from the gallery.
Deputy leader Peter Jeffries (LD, Springbank) said the sale of the car park had been “completed” as contracts were exchanged last week.
He said the petition arrived too late in the process. These comments were met with cries of “shocking” and “disgraceful” from the public gallery.
Cllr Jeffries went on to explain the council needed to sell the site due to the Conservative Government’s cuts to local government funding.
He said: “Also residents of Prestbury need to be aware that I have not received any emails or calls from Cllr Fifield or the now Prestbury ward councillors in the last six months while this petition was being organised, looking through the parish council minutes, they were given regular updates about the petition.
“This administration? Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero... I wonder why. In my view, at the end of a three-year process concerning Idsall Drive car park, this petition is, for some, all about politics. This is in stark contrast to how this administration operates.
“When a solution was not secured, extensive survey work was undertaken to evidence the usage of the car park, crucially this also looked at capacity with on-street parking as well. This survey work clearly showed that without the car park there is sufficient on-street parking to meet day to day demand.
“This whole process stretches over several years and a range of solutions were explored. At this point I would like to put on record my thanks to Prestbury Parish Council, we explored at length, on two separate occasions, their potential purchase of the car park
“They declined. In my view this speaks volumes as to how this asset is viewed by the Prestbury community.”
The council voted to reject the petition and continue with the sale by 26 votes in favour to nine against. A cry of shame could be heard coming from the public gallery.
The site is understood to be being sold for around £120,000. It is understood to have been offered to the parish council for a third of that price.
It is the only car park that is free in that area that provides access to the local high street. Every single local owner of a business on that high street is against this sale Councillor Stephan Fifield