New panel ‘an absolute priority’ to sort out RBWM car parks

Councillors said that a task and finish group is an ‘absolute priority’ to assess the state of Maidenhead’s car parks, amid concerns about safety and anti-social behaviour.

Repeated issues were reported by both residents and councillors at Vicus Way Car Park as well as Stafferton Way and Hines Meadow.

Vicus Way opened in December 2022, but since then, drainage issues have impacted the lifts inside the £14million car park.

Damaged concrete cladding meant that scaffolding also had to be installed around the car park, which has remained in place since May last year.

At a place and overview scrutiny panel meeting yesterday (December 11), Councillor Gurch Singh (Lib Dem, St Mary’s) said Vicus Way has been a ‘real disaster area’.

Cllr Helen Taylor (Ind, Oldfield) recommended that a task and finish group should be introduced to address concerns.

Cllr Gary Reeves (Lib Dem, Cox Green), the chair of the panel, agreed and said the group is ‘an absolute priority’ to make sure the car parks are ‘fit for purpose’.

Neil Walter, the council’s parking enforcement manager, said that in the past, concerns were raised about residents using the car parks thinking they were ‘free for all’. But he said enforcement has ‘significantly improved’ the issue.

He added that the car parks are inspected every month.

Cllr Reeves said that after visiting Vicus Way over a period of a few months, he still noticed problems. He suggested that looking into how effective parking enforcement is should be covered by the task and finish group.

Councillor Adam Bermange (Lib Dem, Boyn Hill), the cabinet member for planning, governance and asset management, recognised that multi-storey car parks in the borough are ‘particularly at risk’.

Cllr Bermange said: “There were no maintenance budgets [for the car parks]. So, it’s vital that we get those in place despite the very challenging financial circumstances we have. We are recognising the mistakes that have been made in the past and fixing the mess.”

Over the last two financial years, he added that an extra £1million was brought in to stabilise maintenance budgets and bring them ‘up to standard’.

Chris Joyce, the council’s assistant director of placemaking, partnerships and sustainability, said parking revenue has been ‘broadly stable’ in the car parks.

Mr Joyce said more businesses are moving into Maidenhead and are showing an interest in using Vicus Way, Stafferton Way and Hines Meadow.

But Cllr Singh said: “A borough-wide management plan [should be introduced] so we don’t get back in this situation where we’ve got car parks dilapidated and dangerous.”

Officers reassured councillors that there is a £155,000 retention budget to cover the works needed at Vicus Way, but some of the money has already been used for the scaffolding.

A £280,000 budget was also approved in November to fix the damaged lighting inside Stafferton Way and to install CCTV.

Cllr Taylor asked what the life span of Stafferton Way Car Park is. She asked whether, if it is coming to the end of its life, it would not be better to divert funds from there to Vicus Way ‘rather than throwing money at a dead car park.’

Tim Golabek, the council’s service lead for transport, highways and parking, said once the work to Stafferton Way is completed, its lifespan will then be determined.

But he added organisations across Maidenhead have agreements to use Stafferton Way, so the council also needs to consider this if it decides to close the car park.