Plans for new housing on Lancaster city centre car parks won't affect parking this Christmas, says the city council.
Lancaster City Council has reassured city centre retailers and businesses that there will be no change to the availability of parking this year.
The council wants to build new housing on existing car parks at Nelson Street and St Leonardgate, as part of its Canal Quarter development plans.
But work won't begin until 2025, the council said, responding to retailers' concerns about parking during the all-important pre-Christmas period in 2024.
Business owners have spoken out strongly against the plans to shut car parks and set up petitions, saying the proposals could 'kill the Lancaster high street'.
A loss of 126 spaces is expected from mid-2025 at Nelson Street, followed by a loss of 181 spaces and six coach parking spaces at Upper and Lower St Leonardsgate by 2026.
There are also long-term plans to build on the 89-space Edward Street car park, but the council said there would be a "managed and phased release" of car parking spaces to "ensure limited net loss".
Meanwhile, the council has also announced the creation of a new car parking project board.
They said this will "oversee an extensive response and coordinate future planning" after a recent public consultation on its draft city centre parking strategy, which closed in June.
The council said the aim of the strategy is "to ensure there continues to be a well-managed supply of public car parking facilities in Lancaster".
They said the primary job of the new parking board, a working group of councillors and officers, will be to respond to the consultation and also calculate future parking requirements.
“It is important that businesses, retailers, and visitors to the city know that all the car parks which are now open will be available in December," said Councillor Jean Parr, cabinet member for planning and placemaking (pictured below).
“Retailers need to be aware of this so that they can plan their stock levels and staffing accordingly. The council will once again be offering free parking for shoppers at specified times in the Christmas period.”
Councillor Catherine Potter, cabinet portfolio holder for the visitor economy, community wealth building and culture, who is also a member of the new Parking Project Board, said: “The council recognises the importance of providing sufficient parking spaces for locals, day trippers and visitors to Lancaster and Morecambe at all times of year but especially Christmas.
“Our retail and cultural sectors are of critical importance to the success and vitality of our district, and we wish to support them in every way we can.”
WHAT IS IN THE DRAFT CAR PARKING STRATEGY?
The draft strategy says the council aims to provide 1300 to 1400 off-street parking spaces in Lancaster city centre in future to "provide sufficient capacity for currently identified peak demand periods".
There are currently a total of 1624 parking spaces in city council-run car parks in Lancaster city centre.
This includes permit-holders only car parking and the 287-space Castle Car Park, which is currently closed for refurbishment due to safety reasons but is due to reopen in 2025.
Also in the draft strategy - three permit-only car parks in Lancaster would be converted to short-stay within the next three years, parking at the car park opposite the old Kingsway bus station would be expanded to create 20-70 new long-stay spaces, and 70-150 temporary coach and car parking spaces would also be created on council land by early 2025 at locations to be confirmed.
Lancaster City Council said this would be to counteract the planned loss of parking spaces when new housing is built on the Nelson Street and St Leonardsgate car parks as part of the planned Canal Quarter development.
As well as the plans for Nelson Street, St Leonardgate and Edward Street car parks, the draft strategy also includes a plan to close all 'small surface' car parks within 15 years.
These include Lucy Street, Wood Street, Spring Garden Street, Windy Hill and Bridget Street car parks. But the council said that "any potential closure of these car parks will be dependent on the success of the long term strategy".
The draft strategy also includes promoting the use of modern technology for car parking payments, developing an electric vehicle charging strategy, and encouraging use of existing Park and Ride facilities including the 650-space Park and Ride at the junction of Caton Road and the M6 Junction 34, which is run by Lancashire County Council.
The Lancaster City Council draft car parking strategy for Lancaster city centre can be found here.
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