Mayor says council might take over closed NCP sites

Leicester City Council could step in to take over closed National Car Parks (NCP) sites if new private operators are not found to run them, the city's mayor has said.

More than 3,000 car parking spaces have been lost in Leicester since the company went into administration in March.

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the council had been in talks with the owners of the closed sites in Rutland Street, St Nicholas Circle, Lee Circle, Abbey Street and East Street.

Soulsby told the BBC he was optimistic some of the sites would reopen but that the council might step in as "either an operator or owner" in the long-term.

"We are working with the building owners to see which ones can get opened again with a different operator," Soulsby said.

"Then we will assess whether we need other intervention from the council to make them work."

The mayor said he was concerned the former NCPs were not economically viable on the terms the company had rented them from the owners.

He said: "With all of these car parks, there may come a point where the council will feel it's appropriate or economically sensible to step in.

"But right at this moment there's a lot of dust to settle.

"There's a lot of discussion with building owners already taking place - and a lot of discussion with potential operators."

The mayor said he was cautious about using public money to reopen car parks that were not profitable under NCP and which had been under-occupied.

He also said, even after the NCP closures, the city still had plenty of parking capacity both on-street and off-street.

However, he told the BBC the St Nicholas Circle site, which serves the Holiday Inn hotel, and the Rutland Street car park, which serves the city's Cultural Quarter and was used by Curve theatre audiences, were "strategically important".

Dominic Gomersall, owner of Lumbers jewellers, in High Street, said: "It's not just about the number of spaces we are losing, it's the location of these car parks.

"The council will tell you we still have 9,000 car parking spaces [in the city centre] but those are peripheral council sites and on retail parks.

"They are not the ones where people are going to come in and park their car, go shopping and drive the local economy.

"We are desperately sad to see these car parks disappear from the city centre."

Green Party opposition city councillor Patrick Kitterick said: "It's a real mess.

"Ultimately, we'd want people to try as much as possible to walk, cycle or get public transport but the reality is car parking is part of the mix.

"If we don't manage the situation, people will say the message is the city is closed for business and people will go elsewhere.

"The absolute priority has to be the Rutland Centre car park."

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