Bid to end ownership dispute

Efforts are being made to improve a Southwell carpark where the ownership is in dispute.

Southwell Town Council want spaces marked out on the Saracen’s Head carpark to make sure as many cars as possible can use it.

The carpark is used by parents of children at Southwell Prebend Preschool, and Lowe’s Wong infants’ and junior schools, members of Southwell Methodist Church and visitors to the Saracen’s Head Hotel, as well as shoppers.

Its use has increased since Newark and Sherwood District Council introduced parking charges, making it one of the few remaining free carparks in Southwell.

There have been complaints of cars parking irregularly, reducing the number of spaces available, and about the poor state of the surface.

At a meeting of the town council planning committee, Mrs Beryl Rimmer said the ownership issue had being on-going for some time.

She said: “Whoever you speak to in the town, they raise this issue.

“We should do something to alleviate the problem there.”

She said if lines were marked out, it would prevent parking spaces from being wasted and alleviate a lot of bad feeling.

Mrs Fiona Bentley, of Main Street, Fiskerton, regularly uses the carpark to take her son Oliver (5) to Lowe’s Wong Infants’ School and her daughter, Elizabeth (3) to Southwell Prebend Preschool.

Mrs Bentley works at the preschool.

“Whoever is in the carpark first seems to park anywhere because there are no markings,” she said.

“It would be a definite help to have markings, even if there was just a line down the middle, and you would fit more cars in.”

Mrs Freda Dunleavy (70) of Norwood Gardens, Southwell, said cars in the middle section never parked correctly and she felt the surface was in a poor state.

Mrs Joanne Crafton (35) of Easthorpe, Southwell, uses the carpark regularly to pick up her twin daughters Phoebe and Heidi (2) from Southwell Prebend Preschool and her other children, Bethany (10) and Oliver (6) from Lowe’s Wong infants’ and junior schools.

She thought a lot more cars would be able to use the carpark if lines were marked out.

“It totally needs repairing to get rid of the pot-holes,” she said.

The chairman of the council’s planning committee, Mr Brendan Haigh, said the public could claim some ownership because it had been used by the town for so long.

He said there had been a series of discussions over the land for two years between the Saracen’s Head and Southwell Methodist Church, the carpark’s two principal users.

Mr Haigh said they would approach both organisations about asking Newark and Sherwood District Council to mark out lines.

They could either agree the cost or ask the district council to pay.

The manager of the Saracen’s Head, Mr Chris Bingham, said: “We do some filling-in of potholes but there is still dispute over the ownership of the carpark.

“Until the dispute has been sorted out properly we cannot do a lot.”

Mr Bingham said they were on good terms with the Methodist Church over the issue.

He said the hotel’s owner, Greene King, was trying to resolve the issue and the hotel would then manage the carpark, including making refurbishments and marking out spaces.

Mr Bill Basford of Southwell Methodist Church said they had no ownership rights.

He said they had used the carpark for at least 30 years and wanted to continue using it.

“We have in the past contributed to marking out and maintenance of the carpark and would be prepared to do so again,” he said.