Five car parks face the axe
Five car parks in a town centre are under threat of closure amid a scramble to fill a near £1 million council budget black hole. The set have all been declared “surplus to requirements” by Tunbridge Wells council which is now reviewing their potential for development and sale.
Between them they provide the borough with more than 1,000 parking spaces.
The five are the short-stay car parks at Great Hall (205 spaces) adjacent to Calverley Gardens, Meadow Road (450 spaces), Torrington Car Park off Vale Avenue (243 spaces) and at Linden Park (54 spaces). The long-stay car park at Mount Pleasant Avenue (60 spaces) could also go. That would leave around 2,500 council-owned spaces in the town and around 3,449 across the whole borough
The council said no decision had yet been made about whether they would be sold for housing development or for another private car park operator to take them on.
The borough is offering the public a chance to respond to its asset management plan consultation, including the disposal of the car parks and other assets such as the Wesley Centre in Paddock Wood.
A council spokesman said: “No decision has been taken about the future of any of the car parks and decisions will be taken in tandem with a new parking strategy.
“We will review the responses to the consultation and then cabinet will decide what will be a priority – timescales and the broader parking strategy will emerge as part of this process. “Sufficient car parking will be retained to meet the future needs of Royal Tunbridge Wells as part of this approach.” Concerns have been raised about how it would impact businesses and shoppers.
The council needs to plug a £943,000 shortfall in its budget. It said no disposal value had been calculated for the five car parks.