Calls to improve car park at Chester Walk, Cheltenham
HEAVY rainfall repeatedly makes a Cheltenham town centre car park unusable.
Motorists and business bosses have angrily spoken out about the privately-run car park in Chester Walk, off the High Street, which becomes a lake after downpours.
-
The Chester Walk car park
The groundwater is so deep it leaves many of the spaces unusable.
One motorist, who attempted to park his car there this week, even joked: "Where do I get my swimsuit?"
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
The car park is run by London-based Euro Car Parks, who acknowledges the car park site "is not to our usual standard."
And Cheltenham Borough Council bosses have agreed to step in to try to spruce up the area.
But motorists say the car park is not good enough, especially as it backs onto the town's Art Gallery & Museum.
They say the site looks "out of place" next to the multi-million pound refurbishment.
The ground floor, which has entrances from Chester Walk, will be home to the reception and the Tourist Information Centre.
A gift shop, education building, café and atrium will also be included in the revamp.
Tom Strutt, 49, who owns tea rooms near St Mary's Church, said the car park was "definitely not up to scratch" for the museum's 2013 reopening.
While Cheltenham nurse Claire Scofield, said Chester Walk was letting the side down.
She said: "It's quite expensive, and they definitely shouldn't be charging when it's flooded."
A student social worker from Cheltenham, who regularly uses the car park, said the car park wasn't worth paying for.
She said: "It has always flooded whenever it rains."
Euro Car Parks describes itself as the "market leader in the car parking industry" with "extensive and industry leading expertise in the provision of car parking services".
But a sign at the Chester Walk car park says it "comes with the disclaimer that those using the car park do so at their own risk, and that liability will be limited where users have failed to have regard for their own safety."
Laura Carter, a spokesman for Cheltenham Borough Council, confirmed Chester Walk's future was being discussed by the CBC's Development Taskforce.
It will be looked at as part of a broader discussion around the regeneration of "our important public spaces."
Euro Car Parks refused to comment.
Comments
by Steve_Thomas
Tuesday, October 16 2012, 12:45PM
“Chester Walk car park is private, owned by Euro Car Parks. If they're anything like NCP, they would have just bought a load of bombsites and demolition sites and turned them into car parks.
I don't see why CBC would need to get involved unless it was a public health and safety hazard, when they would need to compel the owner to make appropriate improvements. Unless they have taken on some kind of financial interest in the business, in which case more fool them.”
by Dave_t10
Saturday, October 13 2012, 3:46PM
“I hope the council are not considering paying towards its improvement.
If the people who park here voted by not using the car park and letting Euro Car Parks that they would not return until improvements were made, I am sure that they would pull their finger out and get the problems sorted.
No need to the council to spend a penny, nor should they.”