New Lichfield car park might be no-go for disabled drivers
Councillors have unanimously approved a new 60 space temporary car park at the council offices at Frog Lane.
But it might be unusable for disabled drivers, a committee heard.
The new car park will only have permission for three years while the council completes its masterplan of the city centre and will be situated at the back of the council building and will be accessed via Frog Lane.
It will be taking up the spot of the former car dealership which closed in 2017 and was demolished a year later and the site has been vacant ever since.
Councillor Keith Vernon told fellow councillors the plan was something they all should all endorse and it was better than what was currently on the site.
He said: “Compared to what is already on the site which is a pile of rubble, which doesn’t seem to be of any use to anybody and this is only going to be a short term three year period, I think it’s a fantastic idea and we should all endorse it.
"At least it will be used while a decision is being made what to do with the land in the future.”
Early this year, the planning committee granted permission to demolish the multi storey car park on Birmingham Road.
This has led to concerns locally there the provision of parking with the city would be harmed especially as currently during the day there is a struggle to find a space.
The new temporary car park does not contain any provision for disabled parking, something that Councillor Diane Evans pointed out.
She asked council officers if there had been any consideration to providing blue badge parking as, currently, the Frog Lane car park has three disabled spaces available.
However, in response, she was told that the new car park will be made from crushed rubble and might not be suited for blue badge holders, but the existing tarmacked car park would be available.
Committee chairman Councillor Thomas Marshall told the committee: “I think obviously we have issues with the Garrick which is very popular so it will provide some evening parking at the Garrick and weekends but also a lot of the area within the council building here at Frog Lane have been repurposed and are now used by businesses.
"So I think it’s incumbent on us as the landlords of this building to ensure that those businesses who want to come here to conduct their daily work have adequate parking.”
