Extra car parking at Gloucester ‘still not enough’ (From Echo)

Extra car parking at Gloucester ‘still not enough’

7:00am Tuesday 24th November 2009 in

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ATHLETES and park users have claimed Basildon Council’s plans for extra temporary car parking spaces at Gloucester Park are not enough.

Construction work started last month on the £38million sporting village, which caused 283 spaces in the main car park, off Cranes Farm Road, to be shut to the public.

The council originally created a temporary car park, behind the netball courts, with only 64 spaces.

This caused chaos as there was not enough room for vehicles for the hundreds of sportsmen and women who use the netball courts, football pitches, and athletics stadium, most evenings and at weekends.

Now the council is to add around 70 more spaces, but people are concerned it will still not be sufficient.

Sam Cooke, 27, from Harlequins Netball Club who play regularly at Gloucester Park, said: “Even with the extra spaces, I still don’t think there will be enough. There are 12 netball courts in Gloucester Park. If all the courts are being used at once that means at least 168 players and there’s also two umpires per game.”

Long-time campaigner against the sporting village, Dennis Swaysland, 75, of Beauchamps Drive, Wickford, said: “This is the latest example of bad planning by the council over the sporting village. It should have realised the original 60 spaces wouldn’t have been enough.”

The second temporary car park is on the former cycle speedway track, to the left of the park’s Cranes Farm Road entrance.