Car parks could be social houses

I note with interest that the council is about to sell off four of our city centre car parks (or parts thereof).

Cllr Fitter-harding, as current leader of this administration, needs to plug holes in the council’s budget, caused in significant part by poor financial decisions taken by recent Conservative administrations. An unwise acquisition of Whitefriars shopping centre prepandemic when all direction of travel was against such shopping areas as the world turned increasingly to online shopping and out of town retail parks. An unwanted Station Road West car park that is desperately underperforming, and was built despite the climate emergency that demands we discourage private cars coming into an already congested city centre. Most recently we have the Kingsmead development with another 220 car parking spaces, built to entice more cars down Sturry Road, adding further to poor air quality and snarl ups on that side of town.

I am all in favour of brownfield redevelopment of redundant car parks, but this land should be retained by our council to build our own social housing for some of the 2,500 plus on our housing needs register. Or if the land must be sold, then please don’t look simply at top dollar, but sell instead to housing associations, for example, to provide a mix of social housing for rent as well as some truly affordable homes for first time buyers or downsizers. It is in large part the combination of high land prices, alongside greedy developers out for maximum profit, that results in most new homes being well out of the reach of local people. Cllr Pip Hazelton

Labour city councillor, Westgate ward