Council and Waitrose confirm latest on car park deal
Wiltshire Council and Waitrose confirmed a deal had not yet been reached on Marlborough's largest car park.
The future of Marlborough’s largest car park is still unclear, after Wiltshire Council and Waitrose confirmed a deal had not yet been reached.
In January, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that Waitrose was seeking to take control of the 170-space car park at Hiller’s Yard, behind its store.
Although the land is owned by Waitrose, Wiltshire Council has managed the car park – which is connected to the 162-space George Lane car park by a bridge over the River Kennet, for decades.
But that looks set to change.
Buried inside discussion documents about new charges for parking in Wiltshire Council car parks is a line that shows a financial loss of revenue to the council of £197,000 between 2026 and 2028 for the Hilliers Yard car park.
At the time, Cllr Martin Smith, cabinet member for highways, said: “Waitrose has informed us that it will be taking the Hilliers Yard car park in Marlborough back under its control."
“We estimate that this will cause an annual reduction in revenue of around £197,000, but we have factored this into our Parking Plan and our review of parking tariffs.”
And a spokesperson for Waitrose owner John Lewis Partnership said: “We are in conversation with the council about the management of the car park to ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers."
“However, at this time, the council continues to operate the car park as normal.”
This week, both Wiltshire Council and the John Lewis Partnership confirmed to the LDRS that there was no update on negotiations.
“The car park continues to be operated by the council,” a spokesperson for Waitrose confirmed.
Waitrose opened its store at 17 High Street, Marlborough in 1977 in the town’s former 500-seat cinema.
In 2001 a major expansion saw it double in size from 12,000 sq ft to 24,000 sq ft.
The expansion took place under the leadership of Alan Martin, who had been store manager since it opened.
In 2015, Hillier’s Yard was changed from a long-stay to a short-stay car park, with a maximum of three hours’ parking allowed.
Wiltshire Council is currently looking to introduce an increase in parking charges across the county, including Hiller’s Yard, where an hour’s parking will increase in price from 80p to £1.
The council also wants to extend the chargeable hours at its car parks from 8m-6pm to 7am-7pm, and to bring Sunday parking charges in line with the rest of the week.