PARKING in Marlborough town centre is the latest issue to come under the spotlight at the town prepares its Neighbourhood Plan. Now the council wants people to make their voices heard and complete a survey to try and find a fix.


With spaces currently costing up to £8 a day in the town centre, or about £200 for a six-month permit, and some High Street spaces limited to an half-hour stay, the council wants to know whether local people think more car parks are needed, or if those already there should be run differently.


Surveyors have already measured the town’s parking capacity levels over four days. Now the council wants people to share their experiences of parking in Marlborough. The results, which will be published in September, will help it decide whether more parking is needed.


Mayor Mervyn Hall, the chairman of the Marlborough Area Neighbourhood Plan committee, which commissioned the independent survey, said: “One of the main issues is capacity. We have people spending a long time driving around and around looking for a space to park in.”


If more parking is felt necessary, land owners and farmers will be consulted to decide possible spots in and around the centre of Marlborough that could become car parks. These are expected to be found outside the centre but within walking distance of the High Street.
Mr Hall added: “We will have to wait and see what’s available and if land owners are willing to work with us in the future.”


Jeweller David Dudley, who has owned his business in the High Street for 26 years, has called for parts of Marlborough Common to be turned into a car park.


Mr Dudley said: “Marlborough Common is a space for the residents. The money in revenue created by parking charges will go back to Marlborough Town Council as opposed to Wiltshire Council. 


“Let people park there and have a stroll into town, improve their health and ease the parking issues in the High Street.”


Mr Dudley also wants parking to be free after 4pm, a move carried out successfully in towns such as Henley on Thames and Chester, to encourage residents to visit the town regularly.


Alison Radnedge, from The Merchant’s House, said: “The issue is that shoppers end up rushing to do all their shopping because half an hour is not enough time.” 


However, one worker from The White Horse Bookshop said: “If you’re coming here to work every day, suck it up, get a permit and park in the designated car park. I think £200 for six months is not unreasonable.”


A longtime Marlborough resident, who lives on College Fields and works in a charity shop on the High Street, and asked not to be named, said: “I think the hourly is appropriate for visitors to pay, but workers who, quite rightly, don’t want to pay the whole day costs park in the residential areas which block up the streets.”


Residents have highlighted issues over parking machines that don’t take the new £1 coins, or have broken and not been fixed for weeks.


The parking survey runs until August 31. It  is at: http://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MarlboroughCPS17