BUSINESS owners in Kendal are concerned about the impact the closure of New Road car park is having on their livelihoods.

Establishments located around the site fear that as there is now nowhere to park for free nearby and claim passing trade will dwindle as people bypass them and opt to take their trade to places where they can park,

"We have lost out on quite a lot of trade," said Helal Ahmed, the owner of restaurant India, on Blackhall Road. "We have lost out on quite a lot of trade. People used to park there (New Road) and come to the restaurant, but since the parking is gone we are not getting much trade. It is quite a big problem for us.

"People used to be able to come because they knew the car park was just round the corner. We are not in town, so there is no passing trade.

"People would come specifically for a meal at India, and they knew they could park.

"Now it is like a ghost town round here. It is like a dead end. It could put my business under threat in the long term.

"I would like to see them re-open it as a car park. Even if it was pay and display, people would still use it."

David Haddath, of David's barbers on Lowther Street, said: "It's very difficult to say if it will be a big problem yet. But I have a customer in my chair as we speak and he is very angry about the fact he couldn't park there.

"A lot of people who used to come in parked on there. I suppose every business around here is in that situation.

"I would like to see the car park left as it was to be honest. Maybe tidied up a little bit."

However, not all businesses in the vicinity of the common feel that the closure of the car park poses a threat.

Martin Dickens, who co-runs Frydays on New Road, said: "People are saying on social media that businesses are suffering and one has closed down, but it hasn't affected us at all.

"I don't see why a business would have to close down like people have said on Facebook because there is no car park there any more. I think a lot of people are scaremongering."

This week South Lakeland District Council leader Cllr Giles Archibald publicly spoke out against 'doom-mongers' he said were using the closure of the town's New Road car park as an excuse to ‘run down’ the town.

"Unfortunately there are small minority of people who have hijacked the New Road debate as a means to attack the council and seem intent on running down Kendal and the council’s achievements," said Cllr Archibald.

"Talk of putting up posters that claim Kendal is closed for business, claims the town has no future or that the council has taken this decision in order to sell the land off to make money are simply ridiculous.

"This council always works in the best interests of its residents. Over the last four years SLDC has achieved an incredible amount and I am proud of our record.

"The closure of the common at New Road to vehicles has been a difficult decision, but it is one that we felt that we had no option other than to take in the interests of public safety.

"I am confident that the site at New Road can be enhanced and developed in way that will benefit the whole community, and we are keen to involve the community in those discussions.

"I can accept that people will have strong views on this subject, but what I can’t accept is that some doom-mongers are using the New Road issue as a means to unfairly criticise the council’s hard work in so many other areas and are running down this fantastic town and its people."

Following concerns raised by those at marches organised in opposition to the car park's closure, the Gazette inquired into the amount the council has spent on security for the car park for the interim period between its initial closure and the placement of boulders to keep vehicles off the site.

An SLDC representative said: "We had two security guards at New Road for 10 consecutive nights between the hours of 8pm to 7am, the total cost for which will be approximately £3,281.30.

SLDC Chief Executive Lawrence Conway also revealed that the Environment Agency is considering using some of the land for flood alleviation.

"We have had correspondence with the Environment Agency and they do want to be engaged with the future of the common," he said. "They have obviously got something in mind. We have not heard about widening of the river. What I have heard about is the possibility of using the wall at the back of New Road common, which is about two feet high, to put in some tiering in the form of steps."