Car park bid ‘uneconomic’

CHESTER Tories are pressing ahead with plans to spend £160,000 of council taxpayers’ money refurbishing a car park which may be demolished in less than two years’ time.

Lib Dem group leader Cllr Paul Roberts “called-in” the plans saying they do not represent value for money because Princess Street car park is due to make way for the troubled Northgate Development scheme.

He argued the council should await a decision on whether the retail-driven scheme is to get the green light – expected towards the end of this year – before spending the money.

Cllr Roberts told the customer services scrutiny committee he accepted spending £25,000 on better lighting and £15,000 on painting the stairwells but said other expenditure like £58,000 on new pay-on-foot equipment and £16,600 on changing the entry and exit routes made no sense.

Criticising the administration’s report justifying the spending, Cllr Roberts said: “I believe that report is seriously flawed.”

Labour group leader Cllr John Price added: “Residents I speak to are extremely perplexed about an awful lot of money being set aside for a project which, if the Northgate scheme is to go-ahead, will be unnecessary.”

Conservative deputy council leader Cllr Stephen Mosley, who is also executive member for customer services, said the previous Lib-Dem-Labour administration had put off refurbishing the car park five years ago because the Northgate Development was in prospect and the decision could not be put off forever.

Cllr Mosley said Princess Street car park earned £750,000 in income every year but the decline in usage was twice the average of other car parks.

He argued the fall-off in business was because the car park environment was not pleasant. Investing 10% of the income that would be generated from now until closure would halt the decline in usage and pay for itself.

“People are voting with their feet. People are looking at the car park and saying I don’t feel safe,” said Cllr Mosley, who explained that the £58,000 pay-on-foot equipment could be relocated to another car park.