1,200 petition against Trowbridge car park transfer deal

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 06:04 · Archive

More than 1,200 people have signed a petition demanding public scrutiny of Wiltshire Council's decision to transfer Trowbridge's St Stephen's car park.

More than 1,200 signatures have been gathered on a petition calling for public scrutiny of Wiltshire Council's decision over Trowbridge's St Stephen's multi-storey car park. A Change.org petition submitted to the council's Cabinet on 22 July attracted 1,114 signatures, with a further 89 signatures submitted through the council's own e-petition system. The petition will be presented to the council's Full Council on 20 October.

The petition argues that decisions involving significant public assets and millions of pounds of taxpayers' money should be 'transparent, evidence-based and subject to appropriate public scrutiny'. It marks the latest stage in a long-running dispute over the car park's future.

Wiltshire Council's Cabinet approved revised proposals in July to transfer responsibility for the structure to the owner of the adjoining Castle Place Shopping Centre. The council says this would remove a major future financial liability while opening opportunities to regenerate the town centre. St Stephen's was built in 1973 and is subject to a binding Deed of Covenant that prevents the council from charging for parking. Structural assessments have found ongoing deterioration, and the council says maintaining the car park would require substantial investment.

How it is being reported

• More than 1,200 demand answers on controversial car park dealMore than 1,200 signatures calling for public scrutiny of the controversial decision over Trowbridge’s St Stephen’s multi-storey car park will go before Wiltshire councillors next week.Gazette & Herald · 14 Oct, 05:00
• More than 1,200 demand answers on controversial car park dealMore than 1,200 signatures calling for public scrutiny of the controversial decision over Trowbridge’s St Stephen’s multi-storey car park will go before Wiltshire councillors next week.Wiltshire Times · 14 Oct, 05:00

In this story: Wiltshire Council · Trowbridge · St Stephen's · Castle Place Shopping Centre

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