Hopes of re-opening a popular Denmark Street car park have suffered a setback after developers unveiled new plans to build homes at the site.
The popular Wokingham town centre car park is the subject of new proposals for a “re-designed scheme” which “seeks to address the council’s reasons for refusal” after a previous application to build 77 flats at the site was thrown out.
The Wokingham town centre spaces closed to the public at midnight on Monday, August 26, after landowners’ original plans were dismissed.
Since then, a petition set up by town councillor Daniel Hinton has secured “close to 4,000” signatures from residents and business owners demanding the car park re-opens.
Responding to the new plans, Conservative Cllr Hinton told the News: “It is hugely disappointing for us, but it won’t stop us from what we are doing - we are going to continue fighting for it to re-open.
“The council refused the plans for many different reasons and these plans don’t seem to be doing anything about them.”
The Tory 'Wokingham Town Masterplan, 2010', identifies this site as a development opportunity and excludes this site from the car parking strategy.
— Cllr Andy Croy (@AndyCroy) September 19, 2019
This development has literally been encouraged by WBC.
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One of the main reasons the plans were refused by Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) was because of the loss of the car park, and town centre car parking need is addressed in the developer's new report.
They claim Wokingham Town Council was informed in April 2019 that the public pay and display part of the car park would close, with WBC being informed one month later.
Petition organiser Cllr Hinton disputed this, claiming he had spoken to town council and borough council bosses and “no one knew anything about it”.
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The report also claims parking supply will be greater than parking demand in the future, reading: “An updated and enhanced town-centre car parking survey has been carried out which examines existing parking demand and supply.
“The study also takes into account the various changes and other redevelopments that are taking place across the town so that future demand and supply can be assessed.
“This work has shown that the availability of parking supply across the town centre will always be greater than the parking demand, even at the busiest times of the week.”
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However, Cllr Hinton said developers were “missing the point”.
He added: “That is just not the case.
“There may be adequate parking for a fit, 30-year-old man but for a mum with a buggy or an elderly lady with disabilities, there is not.
Councillor Hinton is set to ask WBC’s leader Cllr John Halsall how the authority is protecting the local economy following landowner’s decisions to close the car park at a WBC meeting tonight (Thursday, September 19).
The News understands a supplementary question will be asked by Cllr Hinton which confronts the issue of the new home designs.
He was also set to present the ‘Save Denmark Street Car Park’ petition to WBC but the survey has been extended for a month in order to get more signatures from residents.
Cllr Hinton added: “I feel like we need to give it more time.
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“We want to get to 5,000 signatures and they (landowners) have probably helped us to get there.”
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