Makeshift Marriotts car park to stay? (From Witney Gazette)

Makeshift Marriotts car park to stay?

8:40am Wednesday 15th February 2006 in Witney By Andrew Alexander

A temporary car park opened in Witney because of the loss of other spaces could stay.

In December, West Oxfordshire District Council expanded the Welch Way car park by letting drivers park on part of Marriotts Close, the former Witney Town football ground.

The town's free parking spaces were crammed during the busy pre-Christmas period while Sainsbury's car park in Witan Way was redeveloped, and because about 100 spaces at the Welch Way car park were lost when a new road the first phase of the West End Link Road was built.

The council has applied to its own planning committee for permission to keep the temporary spaces on the football ground open for a minimum of two years.

By then, it expects work to have started on the redevelopment of Marriotts Close, which will see houses, shops, restaurants, a multi-screen cinema, and a multi-storey car park go up on the site.

The council intends to use the recently-opened link road, known as Woodford Way, for temporary parking while the development is built.

'We're concerned about the traffic the development will create'

Derek West

The lowlands area planning sub-committee will have to consider the application on Monday, but officers have recommended councillors should allow the extra spaces to be used for two years. But officers did voice concern that the application encouraged the non-essential use of cars, against local and central government policy. They also said keeping the extra spaces open might make the loss of the entire Welch Way car park, when work on the Marriotts Close redevelopment begins, harder to bear.

Ada Fielding, 57, of Eastfield Road, said: "We need more car parking in Witney."

Mrs Fielding said: "Things have been worse since they put this stupid new road in. That doesn't do anyone any good. It's a ridiculous situation.

"You can't park in Witney. I don't come into town to do my main shopping any more. I go to Swindon instead."

John Williams, 82, of Burwell Meadow, said: "I think it's a bit tight already. The Waitrose car park is always full. I don't usually have a problem finding a space in Welch Way, but then I'm not a commuter, and I don't drive that often." One shopper added: "We definitely need it. When they start building this development, it's going to get even smaller. You already can't get a parking space at peak times."

Residents of Gloucester Place, to the rear of the site, are concerned about the impact of losing the Welch Way car park.

Derek West, from the residents' association, said: "We're concerned about the traffic the development will create, and the parking problems it could cause.

"We've got about 20 spaces for about 40 cars, so we use Welch Way as an overspill. And we're asking if there are going to be charges or restrictions on parking when the multi-storey car park is finished."