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Warwick Town Council has objected to Warwick District Council’s plan to fence off almost a third of West Rock car park for residents, and six people have objected so far. The plan would put a 2.4-metre steel fence and locked gates around 32 of the car park’s 99 spaces for five years. The town council’s objection was filed on 5 November.
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What the town council said
The town council objects to the “loss of parking spaces without any assessment” of their impact, and asks for the accessibility of the rest of the car park to be considered. It also wants clarity on how the remaining spaces would be laid out, “given the loss of a disabled space and 3 other spaces”. Town councils are consulted on planning applications but don’t decide them; the district council does.
What objectors are saying
By 11 November the planning file had six objections from residents (one person’s comment appears three times) and one neutral comment. The reasons they give:
- Losing town centre parking: West Rock is one of the closest car parks to the shops, and several say parking has been short since Linen Street closed.
- The fence itself: several call the 2.4-metre anti-climb fence overbearing and out of keeping next to homes, and one suggests a lower one.
- Five years isn’t temporary: some read it as a sign the council won’t sort out Linen Street any time soon.
- Who pays: two object to public money paying for private parking.
Tony Sarson, a reader who wrote to us after our first report, pointed to the 2015 refusal of homes on the same part of the car park, which said losing it would harm the town centre. “So what has changed since then?” he asked. “If anything, the town centre is busier than it was in 2015.”
The council’s environmental protection team has no objection, as long as building work keeps to set hours.
Why the residents need spaces: Linen Street
The application doesn’t name the car park the residents lost, but the history points to Linen Street. The district council closed the multi-storey for good on 18 July 2021 after consultants declared it unsafe. Residents of the Printworks flats on Theatre Street had spaces there, and in August 2021 the council’s cabinet set aside £60,000 for a secure compound at West Rock in case they couldn’t use its basement, the Courier reported. Linen Street is still closed, with no timescale for its future.
How to comment
The application is W/26/1511. The council’s planning file gives Thursday 19 November as the closing date for comments (Mr Sarson says a letter he saw gave 16 November, so don’t leave it late). You can read the plans and comment on the council’s planning website. The council aims to decide it by 21 December. Other car parks nearby are in our Warwick parking guide.
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