Carpark work complaints
Repairs to a riverside carpark that doubles as a popular picnic area are unnecessary and could lead to more cars being parked on the road, it has been claimed.
The carpark next to the River Trent on Main Street, Fiskerton, is being fenced off, resurfaced, two disabled bays are being marked out and a dedicated picnic area is being created.
Fiskerton-cum-Morton Parish Council has welcomed the work by Nottinghamshire County Council.
But Mr Brooke Sidebottom of Main Street, and Mr Michael Bonney of Claypit Lane, Fiskerton, said the work was unnecessary and the fencing would prevent motorists parking on the grass and encourage them to park on the road if the carpark was full.
“On high days and holidays there could be as many as 35 cars there, probably with an ice cream van as well,” said Mr Sidebottom.
“People park on the grass if the carpark is full and it never caused a problem. It could be quite dangerous if cars started parking on the main road.”
Mr Sidebottom said there was a ten-space carpark further up the road but to reach the footpath people had to cross Main Street and walk down the main road.
“There is no pavement so people would have to walk down a grass verge by the main road to get to the pathway,” he said.
Mr Sidebottom estimated that between 10,000 and 14,000 people a year walked the footpath between the carpark and the Bromley Arms.
“The path is part of the Trent Way and runs alongside the river which is why so many people use the carpark,” he said.
“The carpark was a place where the disabled and the elderly could park and have a picnic or just admire the view without having to move very far and we feel this is all being taken away.”
Mr Bonney said: “We want to know why the work was started without any real consultation — and we don’t want the fencing to be put up around the carpark.”
The parish clerk, Mr Roger Aston, said he thought most villagers supported the work.
“The carpark is full of holes and has flooded from time to time so the county council is working to alleviate the situation,” he said.
“The county council spends very little in the Trentside villages and we are very happy to get some money spent in our area.”
Mr Aston said although the carpark was busy on sunny weekends and bank holidays the rest of the year it was used by only a handful of cars and there was no need for a large number of parking spaces.
The work is being done through the county council’s Building Better Communities programme.
A council spokesman said: “The idea is to tidy up the site and improve parking provision and other facilities such as signs and picnic benches.
“The fencing will help to ensure that people wishing to walk along the riverside are not obstructed by parked vehicles.
“There is overflow parking space on the grass adjoining the new parking bays.”