POSSIBLE solutions to parking problems in Marlborough, including a multi-storey car park in George Lane, were taken to a parking review meeting last night.

To tie in with the launch of the public consultation, Marlborough Town Council organised a public meeting to learn a bit more about the concerns and ideas of our local residents.

The meeting was attended by ten residents and 12 town councillors and a number of solutions were put forward including park and ride schemes, the town council taking control of the car parks and a multi-storey car park in George Lane. All of the ideas were due to be presented at a meeting organised by Wiltshire Council in Devizes and the outcome will be put on a future Marlborough planning meeting agenda.

Wiltshire and Marlborough town councillor Stewart Dobson said: “It’s a shame more people didn’t turn up to the meeting because it was widely advertised in the town and there is a problem with parking in the town.

“One of the things to come up at the meeting was that people who work in the town and are not earning the highest pay find it very difficult to afford parking so park wherever they can find along the side roads.

“I would like to encourage as many people as possible to take part in the consultation because the more people who take part, the more say we will have in what goes on in the town.”

One of the biggest changes suggested for Marlborough is to move two of the most used off-street car parks, Hilliers Yard and the adjacent Polly Gardens, from long stay to short stay, allowing cars to stay for up to three hours and increasing the cost of the first hour from 55p to 60p.

Marlborough Chamber of Commerce is not surprised by the 5p per hour increase and believes the limit to three hours parking should keep footfall flowing.

Chamber president Alex Minoudis said: “We are pleased to see that there are no proposed changes to High Street parking arrangements. The 30 minutes free parking are vital to encourage pop-in trade.

“We are disappointed to see no consideration to waiving the fees at the coach park. This is a major tenet of our bid towards becoming a coach- friendly town and the income generated in the local economy by coach visitors far outweighs the benefits of revenue from charging coaches to stop in Marlborough.”

The consultation documents allege the High Street is under-performing and Waitrose is blamed.

Its Marlborough profile, based on a GVA Town Centre and Retail Study conducted in March 2011, the store has a turnover of £20.6m which falls short of the expected £26.6m turnover.

Waitrose, which owns Hilliers Yard car park but leased it from Wiltshire Council on a long lease, would not comment on the issue.