ABOUT 200 extra car parking spaces could be created at Worcestershire County Council’s headquarters in a bid to ease traffic congestion in the area.
A planning application is set to be submitted to Worcester City Council later this month to expand County Hall’s two on-site car parks.
The move comes after a number of complaints were made by residents who claimed council workers and visitors were parking their vehicles on Spetchley Road and Kilbury Drive.
Coun Richard Boorn, councillor for Nunnery, said he had also been contacting the council, which employs more than 2,000 workers, to address the problem as he felt it was putting people’s lives at risk.
But council bosses have now acted as they are looking to add 200 further spaces to the 808 parking bays currently on-site, which was welcomed by Coun Boorn.
“The overflow of parking has been a big problem for residents on Spetchley Road as well as for people living in the Kilbury Drive estate,” he said.
“It’s been appalling and we’ve even had incidents where people have been run down.
“But, to be fair, they have listened and they are now trying to do something about it.
“I remain to be convinced whether 200 spaces will be enough but it is certainly a step in the right direction because initially they did not even recognise the problem.”
Coun John Campion, cabinet member for transformation and commissioning at Worcestershire County Council, said: “It’s important to maximise our use of County Hall campus while ensuring we are a good neighbour.
“Therefore we are currently proposing to apply for planning permission to extend two of our on-site car parks, to provide around 200 extra spaces for staff and visitors.
“As part of the planning process, we have invited staff and local residents to several pre-planning consultation drop-in sessions to give them the opportunity to view proposed designs and provide feedback.
“We hope to submit a planning application by the end of April 2014 and, if approved, being work over the summer with completion in the autumn.”
