TWO hundred motorists will be deprived of their free town centre car parking space, as New Road common land’s fate is finally sealed.

Yesterday, South Lakeland District Council’s cabinet voted to transform Kendal’s most controversial and ‘illegal’ car park into an “attractive and distinctive riverside destination.”

Work is scheduled to start on the site in 2011 and, at a previous cabinet meeting SLDC, indicated no action to permit parking would be taken until a new scheme is finalised.

The decision is inline with the findings of a three-week public consultation in July, which saw two thirds of people support proposals to landscape the site.

However, it also follows an 800-strong petition to maintain parking and years of debate among local residents, traders and councillors.

Peter Boyd, of Elephant’s Yard Shopping Centre, welcomed the improvements to the site, which he said would make the area more appealing to visitors.

However, he expressed concern over the affect the loss of parking spaces would have on other car parks in Kendal.

“New Road is predominantly used by workers and residents,” he said. “If you fill car parks up with permit holders and workers, where do the shoppers park? They will choose to shop elsewhere.”

His fears are echoed by members of the New Road Action Group and Derek Armstrong from the Kendal office of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce.

“We certainly think it will have an impact on trade in parts of the town centre in the short term and believe there should have been a strategy in place to provide an alternative,” said Mr Armstrong. “The council has been discussing New Road for years and have had plenty of time to come up with something.”

The future of New Road car park has divided opinion for years, with many describing it as an eyesore and others stressing its importance as a car park and as a home for public conveniences and an annual funfair.

However, as registered common land, parking there is illegal and the introduction of the Commons Act 2006 enables members of the public to take SLDC to court for failing to abide by this requirement.

Yesterday, Cabinet opted to create a high quality and accessible public space for pedestrians and cyclists to traverse and relax.

Designing and delivering such a scheme is estimated at costing between £330,000 and £50,000.

Councillors voted to deregister the northern strip of the site nearly Holy Trinity and St George Church, but moved against deregistering the entire common, as replacement town centre land could not be found.

David Sykes, assistant director of community investment and development, said analysis of existing parking in the town showed there was sufficient short and multi-tariff parking, with current car parks running at around 80 per cent capacity.

He said SLDC was working with Kendal Futures Board and Cumbria County Council to address long stay parking in the town and highlighted the new spaces that would be available at the K shoes development.

“People who park at New Road manage to find alternative parking when the funfair is on, whether they choose on-street or out of centre parking or use one of the SLDC car parks,” he added.

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