COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Council denies parking reduction in city centre despite worries from councillors and traders over a move away from reliance on cars



Concerns have been raised over a big drop in Coventry parking provision as it emerged the huge City Centre South scheme will only have 86 car spaces for 1,000 new residents.

The number of parking spaces in the city has already reduced, councillors and traders have pointed out.

The Barracks multi-storey car park in Barracks Way, Lower Precinct Shopping Centre, was demolished last year to make way for City Centre South. More recently, the Belgrade Plaza multi-storey, just off the ring road at Ringway Hill Cross, has been closed since mid-April after NCP collapsed – though some drivers continue to enter the unsecured site, making free use of some of its 1,100 spaces.

At the City Centre South redevelopment, there will be very limited parking provision as it's anticipated by the local authority that those living in the heart of Coventry won't need a car to get around.

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info

The Reform group has questioned the tiny number of spaces that will be provided at City Centre South, believing it could impact those who still need a car to get to work, while Coventry Market traders say a general loss in central parking is having a negative impact on business.

Fears were raised at the council's Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board as it heard a progress update on the City Centre South development, which will provide 1,575 new homes along with shops, restaurants, leisure, office and community facilities.

Asked by Cllr Daniel Stainton (Reform, Sherbourne) about parking for residents at the £450m scheme, Mr Moon said: "It's actually quite a small number. I think from memory there's about 80-100 spaces within the scheme because the reality is if you're living in the city centre we don't anticipate that everybody will be wanting to own a car.

"If they do, there are existing car parks within the city centre where you can buy season tickets. But we are not trying to create lots of car parking for the new flats."

Mr Moon added: "If you look at the models elsewhere throughout the country where people are living in cities, they generally don't have cars or there's only a small level of car ownership."

Asked for clarification on the car parking provision after the meeting, Mr Moon spoke to the developers and confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there will be 86 car parking spaces in Phase 1 of the development, which will have 1,000 new homes.

The number of parking spaces in Phase 2, consisting of the remaining 575 homes, will be determined as the detailed design progresses, he told us.

Developers the Hill Group say on their website that the project aims to "promote cycling and walking with limited car parking spaces."

Christopher Charley, committee secretary for Coventry Market, which will be revamped as part of City Centre South, warned that some central car parking had already been lost because of the demolition work to prepare for the redevelopment and said any general trend for reducing parking would not be good for trade.

He said: "I would say that parking is a concern for the market and businesses. We have found that a lot of people who like to come in and shop in the city centre do complain about the lack of parking, and the costs being higher. We do feel it has a negative effect on businesses in the city centre, having the lack of parking that we do.

"We've lost the Barracks multi-storey car park and we've lost our immediate service area car park [because of the development work]. It does have a negative impact on businesses in the city centre.