Carpark charges concern
8:00am Thu Jan 26, 2012
Fears have been raised that charges could be introduced at a Southwell carpark believed to be on common land.
Motorists have been able to park for free on the carpark behind the Saracen’s Head Hotel for decades.
It is the only free carpark without restrictions in the town centre. It is not known who owns the land, but it is often repaired by Nottinghamshire County Council at the request of Southwell Town Council.
However, it is believed the pub owner, Greene King, is preparing to claim ownership of the land and start charging people to park there.
A spokesman for Greene King would only confirm that a review of parking arrangements at the Saracen’s Head Hotel was ongoing.
To claim ownership of the land Greene King would have to prove to the Land Registry that they had a legitimate claim.
The town council is preparing to block any attempts by the company to claim it.
Town councillor Mr Paul Handley said he thought the carpark was common land.
He said: “I don’t think we should accept on anyone’s say so that they own it without definite proof. If anyone stakes a claim to own that land I would suggest that we would want decisive proof.
“This is a very important subject. I wouldn’t want us to get into a situation where Greene King put in an application and we were waiting for meetings to take place before we could do anything, and in the meantime their application was going through.”
Mr Brian Smith said the council could either claim ownership of the site themselves or claim that it was common land.
He said: “It is a different process so we need to decide what we want to do and gather evidence.
“We need more information about the background before we decide what our opinions are.”
The county council will repair the footpath leading to the carpark next month on health and safety grounds because the boundary wall of neighbouring Sacrista Prebend is being damaged.
The town council agreed to monitor the situation and, if necessary, for the chairman to take appropriate action to prevent any applications going through unchallenged.
The site’s history will also be researched.
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