Concerns Cotswold town’s ‘cheapest’ car park is hardly being used
Only 18 permits have been issued for the car park
There are concerns a Cotswold permit-only car park which cost around £500,000 to convert is hardly being used despite offering the cheapest season ticket in the town.
Questions have been asked over the future of the 152-space Whiteway car park next to Cirencester Rugby Club for which only 18 permits have been issued.
The site generates around £17,000 a year for Cotswold District Council.
And council chiefs say demand for season tickets at the car park has been much lower than they anticipated when they decided to redevelop the site before the Coronavirus pandemic.
The redevelopment was undertaken to provide decent parking during the development of a multi-storey car park at Waterloo – a project which was ultimately not taken forward.
Councillor David Fowles (C, Coln Valley), who asked for an update at the meeting on September 24, said the total investment in the car park was around £500,000.
He said the original decision was taken by the Conservatives in October 2017 to spend £320,000 on the rugby club car park.
The Liberal Democrats later decided to spend a further £192,000 on the site, he said.
“It was a shared decision and at the time I think it was the right decision because we were planning on building on Waterloo,” said Cllr Fowles.
“The issue now is it is pretty obvious that it is not being used. Could you inform members as to the current arrangements with the rugby club.
“If you have any thoughts to change that?”
Health, culture and visitor experience cabintet member Paul Hodgkinson (LD, Chedworth and Churn Valley) said it is an issue he thinks about and it is being constantly monitored.
He would love that site to be well used and a lot of work has been done in trying to promote it with businesses in Cirencester.
“If you had a season ticket for the Whiteway, it would cost you substantially less than anywhere in Cirencester,” he said.
“But despite all that, it is not being used enough.
“At the moment there is no prospect of trying to undo the arrangement we’ve currently got.
“I gather 2028 is the time when it can be reviewed.”
He said all options are on the table but in the meantime they should try to get more people to use it.
A yearly parking permit for The Whiteway is £520 while a 12 month pass for Abbey Grounds is £1,160 and £780 at Sheep Street, Old Station and Waterloo car parks.
People can apply for a season pass on the District Council’s website.