Protests as Wiltshire Council agrees £3.5 million car park deal
Protestors gathered outside County Hall to voice concerns about the move
A property developer will be given £3.5 million in a controversial car park deal signed off by Wiltshire councillors today (Wednesday).
With protestors gathered outside County Hall, members of Wiltshire Council’s cabinet voted unanimously to pay Tahir Ali, the owner of Castle Place shopping centre in Trowbridge, to take the crumbling St Stephen’s multi-storey car park off their hands.
A 50-year-old covenant binds the fortunes of the car park – which is owned by Wiltshire Council – with the adjoining shopping centre.
Councillors were reminded that Wiltshire Council is bound to provide 446 free parking spaces for the customers of the shopping centre.
The council recently spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on repairs, following a structural engineers’ report that raised serious questions about the safety of the car park.
Further repairs to extend the life of the car park by a decade would cost between £3.5 and £5 million, the meeting was told.
Demolishing the car park and rebuilding it would cost in excess of £10 to £15 million – and the troublesome covenant would be transferred to the new building.
The council said it looked at all available options before deciding to pay the other party in the legally-binding agreement – Mr Ali – to take it off their hands, demolish the car park and the shopping centre, and redevelop the site.
A £2.5 million deal was struck between Mr Ali and the Liberal Democrat-led administration. But at a Full Council meeting in January, opposition councillors voted the proposal down.
In February, £5.1 million was assigned for car park works when the annual budget was set.
And today, Cabinet members sought to use some of those funds to extricate themselves from the covenant.
Richard Clewer, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said “bypassing full council” was “wrong” and “poor behaviour.”
Reform UK’s Chris Vaughan, who has led a crusade against the demolition of the car park without having a developer in place to regenerate the site, called it “undemocratic.”
The exact financial details were not discussed, but at several points during the debate councillors – including council leader Ian Thorn and Trowbridge Central councillor Stewart Palmen – confirmed the £3.5 million figure.
Helen Belcher, cabinet member for assets, said “no one wants to be in this position,” but insisted the car park was “a liability, not an asset.”
Gavin Grant, cabinet member for finance, called it “the least worst option.”
Cllr Belcher confirmed that the payments would be made in stages – with a smaller sum – thought to be around £300,000 – payable on the transfer of the asset. Further payments will be made on the completion of demolition, and when planning permission is secured for redevelopment.
She confirmed that once ownership of the car park was transferred, it was up to Mr Ali what he did with it – including charging visitors to park, or even closing it completely – although art of the deal means it will remain open until the council-run leisure centre on the top floor moves to its new site.
After the meeting, Cllr Belcher said: “Given the limited options on the table and the cost projections for each of those, we are satisfied we have made the right decision for the future financial stability of this council and for taxpayers.
“We appreciate that some people have strong feelings about the car park and won’t necessarily agree with our approach – and we are sympathetic to those feelings.
“This decision has not been taken lightly, but spending millions of public pounds on an ageing structure, with no realistic prospect of recouping that investment, is not something we’re willing to do.
“This agreement provides an opportunity to remove that long-term financial burden while supporting future investment and regeneration in Trowbridge town centre.”