Highbridge residents fighting the potential sale of the town’s Bank Street car park handed over a 500-name petition to Sedgemoor District Council bosses on Thursday evening (March 20th).
The huge petition was unveiled during a public meeting held in Highbridge’s Community Hall, run by the Burnham and Highbridge Regeneration Partnership.
Chairman Rose Parsons, who is also a Highbridge County Councillor, handed over the thick wad of signatures to Andrew Gilling, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transport, as pictured above.
“All these names have been collected in just one week,” she said. “Clearly, this shows the strength of feeling there is against any sell-off of this car park.”
The opposition to the possible sale of the car park for development was also displayed during the meeting, which was attended by around 30 residents.
Doug Bamsey, Corporate Director of Sedgemoor District Council, tried to reassure residents that while “several offers” have been made by developers interesting in buying the land, “no deal has yet been done and full consultation is still underway.”
He pointed out that Bank Street’s 109 car parking spaces are “among the least profitable in the district,” although Cllr Joe Leach questioned whether this is because there are not enough parking attendants to enforce charges.
During a question and answer session, local resident Doreen Reddish asked Mr Bamsey: “Don’t you think there are too many flats in Highbridge? We don’t want more in place of our car park. This is going too far – you have no regard for Highbridge at all.”
But Mr Bamsey (pictured right) explained that the government is encouraging local authorities to introduce more high-rise acomodation to “maxmise the use of available land and introduce more affordable family homes.”
Cllr Leach added that the car park is at “the heart of the town and there would be no incentive for people to stop and do their shopping in Highbridge if the bulk of the car park spaces go.”
Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Tessa Munt agreed, saying she is “absolutely against the plans.” She added that it “greatly concerns me that the district council appears to support cramming people into new flats without gardens or proper facilities around them.”
Julian Street, Sedgemoor Group Manager, explained that due to its £1.8m cash shortfall, the district council “is in a tough financial position” and that “while we don’t want to get rid of our assets, there are few choices for us at the moment.”
RELATED LINKS:
Bank Street car park sale put on hold by council
Opposition grows over Bank Street car park sale
Map showing the Sedgemoor plans in full
Council urged by Lib Dems not to sell off Highbridge car park
Anger over bid to sell off Bank Street car park
