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Idsall Drive Car Park – important update

 

We need your feedback.

Parishioners will be aware that Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) are planning to sell Idsall Drive Car Park.  The Parish Council is working with CBC to establish if the parish council may be able to purchase the car park, rather than it being sold privately and potentially turned into housing.

The car park is located off the High Street by the Prestbury War memorial, has ten spaces (currently free of charge) and is open 24 hours a day.  Some parishioners may recall that the parish council paid a significant contribution towards the original purchase of the car park by Tewkesbury Borough Council back in 1986.

To purchase the car park would clearly come at a cost to Prestbury Parish Council.  If a price could be agreed this would have to be funded by using parish council reserves and/or taking out a loan.

This would be a significant financial commitment for the parish.

Action needed.

We would like to hear your voices.  Please make your thoughts known by commenting on this post or by emailing the Parish Clerk  Contact Us

 

 


34 thoughts on “Idsall Drive Car Park – important update

  1. Once we return to post lockdown times, the Kings Arms car park will be out of action and aside from a couple of parking places outside the butchers, there would be no parking available at a reasonable distance from Prestbury High Street if we lose the Idsall places. Very unfortunate and onerous for visitors and the elderly or those with children.

  2. As this is the only car park in the village and the older residents will have on where to park, so this will make the hight street and the village a ghost town, so maybe the council needs to step in and try to help.

  3. Loss of the car park would hasten the death of shopping in Prestbury High Street. Essential for short stay parking. I am sure there would be support for the Parish council to buy the site even if expensive. Possibly public/business donations to the cause might be possible.

  4. Over the 35 years I have lived in Prestbury I have seen the village High Street decline. We have lost 2 banks, a sweet shop, a wool shop, and more recently the Post Office. Rowlands Pharmacy has been under threat of closure for some time (since the relocation of Seven Posts Surgery to Bishops Cleeve) and may still be. The Village Stores has changed hands, despite a major investment in updating the premises not too long ago, since the previous owner was unable to make a viable living despite the investment.

    On the positive side, we have a thriving Kings Arms following a major investment in unexpected structural repairs to our much-loved historic building and total refurbishment by The White Brasserie Company, Waghorne’s Butchers has benefited from the provision of short-term street parking outside their premises fairly recently – surely these two alone are a sign of confidence in Prestbury Village?

    Taking away the only public car park in the village can only accelerate its decline for what could only be considered as a relatively small financial gain that will soon be swallowed up in the Borough Council coffers. I will be honest and state that personally I don’t use the Idsall Drive car park very often as I am disabled and hold a Blue Badge, thereby allowing me to park in the High Street – although recognising that this can sometimes cause traffic issues. However, the value to the Prestbury community cannot be understated. Where will the shoppers park in order to visit our few remaining shops and hairdressers? The Kings Arms car park will definitely be misused and will cause problems for their customers, probably leading to loss of trade and potential closure. Or will drivers just risk a parking ticket and park in the High Street illegally, causing traffic issues?

  5. Please save this car park for the people of Prestbury, as it is the only place to park for the high street shops and for going to church.

  6. Without a few convenient parking spaces businesses in the centre of Pressbury will be adversely affected. It would be a shame to make it harder for shops and retailers to survive. Short sighted gain rather than long sighted thriving village!

  7. This is a great/useful car park for those with children so that you can park safely and walk to Prestbury Stores – it would be a really significant loss if it was no longer present.

  8. I use this car park when visiting the butchers and also when the Kings Arms car park is full.
    It would be a great shame if we lost this facility.

  9. So stupid. No parking , apart from this small car park. Where are we meant to park to shop. Able bodied people must find it difficult, but for the disabled it will be impossible. PLEASE don’t get rid of our only access to local shops

  10. Re Idsall Drive Car Park. I firmly believe that the car park should be retained by CBC or Prestbury Parish Council should given first right to purchase this car park for community use. Once the King’s Arms bar and restaurant reopen, there is very little car parking space available for customers of the shops and visitors to the church and for the general community. If lost people will start parking or waiting outside shops on the main road which will be disruptive to through traffic and dangerous or parking on sides roads which are not really suitable. If the site is sold and the use changed, it will be another nail in the coffin for retail. Regards Pam Sissons

  11. Isdall Car Park is very important to keep our high street alive both for residents and visitors.

  12. Hi,

    I think it is wise to attempt to retain use of the car park to help support the shops in Prestbury. Clearly the expense would be significant, but closing it would mean more people trying to double park and stop on the main road which is both dangerous and undesirable generally. I’ve used the car park many times when I donthave time to walk up to the butchers or the shop and I think it is very useful.

    Thanks,
    Andy Duggan

  13. For goodness sake. Anyone with common sense must realise the car park is critical to local residents, local shops, pubs, churches. You’ve already built a new housing development in the area so more residents, need parking. Please, keep the car park.

  14. As previous posts have pointed out, the Idsall Drive car park is vital to the success of the village shops and especially important for elderly locals. Without the car park the shops could go out of business for ever. The car park is also important for churchgoers and walkers too who may then go on to use the local pubs or shops. We need to build on the assets we have, not destroy them.
    I think the car park would be even better used if it were signed clearly. A charge should be made for its use.

  15. Just another typically ill-considered anti-motorist wheeze by the CBC. As others have asked, what alternative parking provision does CBC propose to create in Prestbury in order to accommodate its many visitors who come to visit the famously haunted pretty village, its shops, its pubs and its access to several surrounding delightful walks?

  16. Very shortsighted to develop this extremely useful and much needed parking area. Once it’s gone, it’s gone !!!! And then the very few shops we have left will suffer.

  17. We have lost so much in the village already. Removing parking to access our shops and haidressers would deter people from using them. I think we need to retain it at all costs.

  18. 1. By making a “significant contribution” to the purchase of the car park in 1986, the Parish Council presumably secured a proportionate interest in the site, in the form of a guarantee that it would have to agree to any variation in the use of the site, say. Whatever form the interest takes, the Parish Council clearly cannot be expected to pay for the same piece of land twice or have the land that it paid for taken from it without compensation.
    2. It is not possible to form a view on whether the Parish Council should now purchase the proportion of the site that it has not already bought without knowing some facts, such as the estimated cost of the land and the Council’s reserves.

  19. Recently used this car park for our household to have a leisurely walk around Prestbury and the race course. Please retain it as a safe, off road car park that visitors can use to visit the services in Prestbury and locality

  20. This facility is essential to the ongoing health of our High Street and we support the Parish Council in their efforts to retain this vital facility.

  21. Avatar for Council

    Shirley Richardson

    Removing the Idsall Drive car park from the village will be the death knell for the remaining retailers in the village. Please do what is needed to keep it.

  22. Once the Kings Arms is back in business this is the only parking in the village to let us support the local shops. It is also in the interest of the Kings Arms to keep it open as it serves as an overflow when they are full. I hope they have been approached.
    Prestbury village is in danger of dying with this move.

  23. I regularly use Waghornes & come from Cheltenham specially, if the convenience of the car park is gone people will stop supporting local businesses & just use the supermarket. Terrible idea

  24. This car park is very important to the residents and visitors to prestbury and development of it must not go ahead. Church goers and people wanting to visit the shops and pubs are very limited to where they can park without being a total nuisance to residents.

  25. It’s clear this car park is well used and much needed to keep people visiting the businesses in the village.
    How do we go about lobbying the borough council against it ?

  26. Idsall Car Park – please Prestbury Parish Council do not turn the sole parking place in the village into a development. Without this, there will be literally no place for parking having a severe detrimental impact upon the few stores we currently have in the High Street. Why not make it pay and display? I would not like this but rather this option than no option for parking. Thanks

  27. The Idsall Drive car park is obviously an important asset and crucial to the survival and regeneration (since it has already lost so many businesses) of the High Street. A worthwhile investment in the village’s future.

  28. We must retain this car park for the village. It is needed to support the shops, The Plough and St Mary’s church – weddings & funerals as well as regular services- I additon, the King’s Arm’s car park is not large enough at the weekend when cars overflow onto the Bank & Idsall Drive.
    As it is, residents find difficulties parking when the car park is full with walkers making the area a base for their rambles on Cleeve Hill. Plus, they frequently use the local pubs when they return, bringing trade to the area.
    We must somehow hold on to our precious car park.

  29. Idsall Drive Car Park. Yet another attack on what few amenities are left within the village. The loss of this car park will make it almost impossible for those with disabilities to visit the shops, church and the Plough. This no doubt is yet another nail in the coffin for what few shops we have left. Why must we build yet more houses on this small space that provides so much in terms of access for our community?
    The philosophy of our local authorities is fundamentally flawed: short term capital gain, long term pain for the local community!
    If the council persist in pursuing this ludicrous and short sighted plan, then at Parish level we should have the option of purchasing whatever proportion is outstanding from the previous purchase.
    Has the the Parish acquired any rights under the previous investment in this land?

  30. IDSALL DRIVE CAR PARK

    As many of these comments show, the loss of the car park would seriously affect local commerce and amenities. For Prestbury and its inhabitants, its sale for ‘development’ would be an irrevocable and long-term loss. It is currently used by shoppers, churchgoers, walkers, trades people, visitors and others. As a local resident, I have used the car park on numerous occasions. It has been in use for about 34 years or so and the notion that the plot should now be bought or developed is a strange one, when the land is presumably held in trust for the benefit of all, and especially those who live and work locally and help pay for Cheltenham Borough Council through the Council tax and/or Business rates.

    The King’s Arms offers parking up to 11 am, as a concession, and after that the Idsall Drive Car Park is the only place to park freely in Prestbury, other than on nearby roads which are already congested. At present, the car park helps to support Waghornes the butchers and Prestbury Stores, as well as such services as Leigh’s Hairdressing and Jane’s Hair and Beauty. Some other local businesses have closed. The ‘proposed disposal’ of the car park might provide a short-term gain for CBC but, in my view, the freehold should now be given for a nominal fee to Prestbury Parish Council which would appreciate the car park properly for the valued public asset it is and should remain.

  31. The Idsall car park needs to remain for the good of the village shops, pubs, churches and residents of Idsall Drive and The Bank. If comment that the parish made a contribution in 1986 to buy it, this should be investigated, do we have a claim on it? The car park should be better sign posted. No charge should be made for this car park, as people will only park on the road in the previous mentioned roads and residents will be unable to park outside their houses, this happens when there are weddings and funerals at the church and race meetings.

  32. It seems clear that this car park is a lifeline to those both young and old in Prestbury. It surely must be kept

  33. I agree wholeheartedly with all comments made. Prestbury needs a car park, albeit a small one.

  34. Please retain this car park. We use it when we shop at Rowlands or Waghornes, or when I pick up my wife from the hairdresser’s. And Prestbury must surely have some claim to its continuing use as a car park, having already paid towards it initially?

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