'It’s people’s lives and livings at stake here' - protestors gather at Jackson's Lane car park in Wellingborough

More than 50 people came together to defend Jackson’s Lane car park, which is owned by North Northants Council (NNC), in response to the Reform-led authority declaring the land as ‘surplus to requirement’ in recent papers.

The executive approved plans to market the site for disposal, alongside a number of other council-owned assets, on February 19.

In response to concerns from members of the public, the leader of NNC has assured that, under his leadership, the authority will only consider developments on the site that retain parking and feed into the wider town centre masterplan, making Wellingborough “vibrant” once again.

Cynthia Bailey, who said she has lived in the area for over 50 years, took part in the protest yesterday (Saturday February 28). She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) how important Jackson’s Lane is for a variety of nearby community groups, high street businesses and flats.

She said: “Not everyone can walk up from the town if they are elderly or have a disability. It’s very much needed and I think it would be a mistake to put anything else on these premises.

“We campaigned [to save the car park] several years ago, so why do we have to be here again so quickly? My heart sank when I saw it come up again, but we’re prepared still to stand up again to try to save it for the community.”

Freddie Harris, founder of the Wellie Wombles and a resident of the town for 60 years, also branded the car park a “vital asset” for residents.

“It’s the only free car park which is open 24 hours a day,” he continued, “There are no buses and the situation is only going to get worse as there are more houses being built [in Wellingborough], more cars, and more need for a car parking space.”

In a ‘clarification’ update posted by North Northants Council earlier this week, it explained that declaring a site as ‘surplus’ is the first step and allows the council to explore options for its future use. It said that the intention was always to retain a proportion of the site for public car parking, although an ‘oversupply’ of spaces within the town centre has previously been acknowledged by officers.

The 6.2 acre site also includes a large section of vacant land off Derek Hooton Way, which the council says has long suffered from persistent antisocial behaviour and trespass and needs regeneration.

Cllr David Baker (Victoria ward, NNC) told the LDRS that the protest highlighted the strength of feeling and the need for all local stakeholders to be involved in the process going ahead.

He added: “It’s important that NNC, including Cllr Griffiths as the leader, now recognise the groundswell of local concern, engage with the public and attend a public meeting in the town to explain how local interests will now be involved going ahead.”

Cllr Paul Bell, leader of Wellingborough Town Council, said that the sale of any of the car parking on the site should not be considered, and that the unitary council should instead dispose solely of Derek Hooton Way, which he described as “wasteland”.

He added: “There was this talk about five or six years ago and the public feeling clearly hasn’t changed on Jackson’s Lane car park.

“We want a consultation, talk to stakeholders, talk to shopkeepers who didn’t even know this land was up for selling. It’s people’s lives and livings at stake here.”

Wellingborough town councillor Raz Koriya also called for NNC to provide “clear concrete answers” to the people of the town about what protections are in place for parking provision, what parts of the site will be sold, and how any impact on the town centre will be assessed.

North Northamptonshire Council leader Martin Griffiths said: “On 13th March, we begin the work on the town centre master plan with a member workshop at Swanspool House.

“We need to go back to the drawing board with this site and look at the ‘Urban Foresight’ report to make Wellingborough become prosperous, vibrant, proud and welcoming again.

“We need to include developing this 6 and a half acre site in those plans, but retain sufficient car parking. That is what we have already committed to do, as was made clear at last month’s executive meeting.

“We will market this site, but under my leadership, NNC will only consider developments that provide parking and schemes that complement the cross-party masterplan that is about to get underway.”

An NNC spokesperson added that decisions around asset disposal do not usually require public consultation, but that pre-engagement with communities would be taken ahead of the submission of any planning application.

They said that officers will shortly be seeking to engage with the market to gauge the different types of interest and how they could work on a design for the site that “combines regeneration with a local parking provision”.

An extraordinary meeting of Wellingborough Town Council will take place on Tuesday, March 3, raising opposition to the potential sale of the car park.

The full agenda for the Wellingborough Town Council meeting can be found online here.