Flooded and unattractive after car park 'repairs'

Thursday, 22 December 2022 00:00

Wiltshire Council announced yesterday that repairs to the Culver Street car park in Salisbury had been completed.

After receiving reports the car park was flooded earlier this week, LoveSalisbury visited the car park this morning (22nd December 2022) and found this to be the case.

At the beginning of the project, Wiltshire Council said that "The work will see repairs to the structure of the facility, including to the columns, floors and brickwork, plus a full replacement of the flooring and ramps on all levels of the car park, which should help reduce the noise for nearby residents."

This is not the case, as Wiltshire Council confirmed yesterday in their press release that only the flooring and ramps on levels two and three were replaced.

Lower floors of the car park remain flooded (Photo: LoveSalisbury)

Whilst the top two floors of the car park have been resurfaced and have new barriers in place, these floors are still inaccessible to the public thanks to the large yellow gates that were installed before the repair works.

The resurfaced top floors are still gated off (Photo: LoveSalisbury)

The lower floors of the car park are flooded, despite a lack of rain over the past few days, and the car park remains unattractive and does not feel like a safe place to park.

Very little work seems to have been carried out on the lower floors.

The car park remains unattractive and in a poor state of repair (Photo: LoveSalisbury)

Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on the 'repairs', but the building remains in poor condition and a poor advert for visitors to Salisbury.

LoveSalisbury approached Wiltshire Council for comment.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Operational Assets, said: “This project was aimed at making the car park structurally secure and extend the life of the building, so it continues to be fit-for-purpose and available to use.

"As we’ve previously said, visually, there were to be little noticeable changes following the work, but the most important thing is the infrastructure has been improved, and therefore, it’s safer for people to use.

"As the work took place, we identified additional health and safety work that was required that could not have been foreseen.

"Separate to this project, a survey has been carried out, and improvements to the drainage will be carried out in the new year.”

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