53 parking spaces to be lost for bin compound
PLACES AT ITS HEADQUARTERS LITTLE USED
COUNCIL SAYS
PROPOSALS to remove 53 parking places to install a bin compound have been approved by councillors.
North West Leicestershire District Council will convert a pay-and-display car park in Whitwick Road, Coalville.
The authority said the move will not affect the main car park behind the district council’s Stenson House building or the car park that fronts on to London Road.
A report to councillors said: “These spaces are shared with the public. However, due to the location, and free parking available closer to the shops, the public do not usually use this car park
“There are 10 30-minute max shortstay bays in the main car park for visitors but visitors can actually park anywhere free for up to 30 mins.
“We have sold an average of eight pay-and-display tickets per day for the council offices car park over the past three months.
“All of the spaces except one designated for the chairman are on a first come, first served basis.
“Feedback from our civil enforcement officers suggests they are currently used at about 50 per cent capacity.”
The new compound, next to Coalville Town Bowls Club, will be shielded from view of passing motorists by a 2.4m-high fence and gates. The council said it may cause “some visual harm to the immediate area”, but that trees will partially obscure the compound.
The documents also said the council aims to leave Stenson House by September for Whitwick Business Centre, while hybrid working will also remain in place after it moved to the model during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Until then, the council’s main car park, with 93 bays, will remain in use.
The London Road car park, of 89 spaces, will return to full capacity once it has completed its use as a Covid-19 test centre.