New multi-storey car park could be needed in Witney

With 16,000 homes planned to be built in West Oxfordshire over the next 15 years, the district council wants to ensure there are enough spaces for thousands of extra cars.

The authority said it needs to find more than 1,000 spaces across the district’s larger settlements, with more than half of those – 600 spaces – in Witney alone.

It is expected that the cost of providing the 1,070 spaces required by the district will be £21.6m – but there are fears that failing to deliver adequate parking could be an economic blow to the area,

District and town councillor for Witney, Duncan Enright, said parking was at a premium in Witney, and that only looks set to rise as demand continues to surge.

He said: “As the town grows it needs parking spaces to go with that growth.

“There is a model for this already with the multi-storey car park in Marriotts Walk which has been successful on a number of fronts.

"Before it would have been hard to think how a multi-storey car park could be built in the middle of Witney without it being a problem.”

Mr Enright, who conceded that 600 spaces sounded like ‘an awful lot’, said another multi-storey car park in the town could be the solution.

He said it was also important that the district tried to stay at the cutting edge of technology – exploring, for example, electric charging points.

Mr Enright continued: “It’s a challenge, but we’ve shown in the past we can come up with creative solutions and the council’s planners are a solid bunch.

"It’s just a case of flagging this up now as a thing to be thinking about along with houses, jobs and shops.”

Oxfordshire county councillor for Witney, Laura Price, did not rule out the need for a multi-storey car park but emphasised the need to promote alternative modes of travel first.

Ms Price said: “I would like to see more thought about other transport too.

"We need cycle path improvements and more bike racks, and of course it would be great if more people saw buses as a travel option.”

Fellow county councillor, Suzanne Bartington, agreed, saying: “I think we need to concentrate on active travel and ensure new developments have good walking and cycling routes to the town centre.”

The 590-space car park in Marriotts Walk opened in 2009 along with the shopping centre on the site.

Like other car parks in Witney it is free.

Owner of Fat Lil’s bar and restaurant Corn Street, Paul Spink, widened the debate even further by suggesting a new park and ride for Witney.

He said: “As a business owner I value the free parking in the district.

"It’s easy to see the decline of Oxford as a result of making it harder for people to use cars.

“The implication here though is that people are travelling from out of town to use Witney’s facilities.

"If that’s the case, a free park and ride on Range Road or somewhere would be okay.

“I can’t visualise where a multi-storey could go without it upsetting the skyline considerably.”

The pressure is not on Witney alone.

The district council said that 200 spaces need to be found in Burford, 120 in Chipping Norton and 150 in Woodstock.

In Woodstock, a town which has a centre plagued by parking problems, some councillors have suggested encouraging Blenheim Palace to provide parking on its land.