More parking spaces needed in Stamford, review commissioned by South Kesteven District Council finds

There’s a lack of available car parking spaces at peak times in Stamford, a report has found.

With plans to expand Cattlemarket car park, near the town meadows, back up for discussion, South Kesteven District Council commissioned an independent capacity study to see if 80 new spaces were actually needed.

There are currently 802 bays spread out across the six council-run pay and display car parks in the town. These are the short stay car parks in North Street, St Leonard’s Street, Bath Row, Scotgate and the long-stay spaces in Cattlemarket and Wharf Road.

The results of the survey, which was carried out on a Friday and Saturday in November, show there is a lack of available spaces with many of the town centre car parks full during peak times.

Across the town not many spaces are available during the midday peak on a Friday, market day, with occupancy beginning to fall from 2pm.

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On the Saturday it was observed that the car parks get busier in the early afternoon, although on-street spaces in Bath Row and Broad Street were mostly full for the whole day.

Although the smaller car parks were full, there was ‘plenty of space’ in Cattlemarket all day.

On-street parking spaces in the town centres, which have one or two hour limits, are also in demand and it is difficult for drivers to find a space during the busy periods of day, the report states.

It adds traffic congestion in Stamford makes it more difficult to find the remaining parking spaces, which in turn adds to the queues.

The study also found that while most car parks are in good or reasonable condition some would benefit from maintenance or improvement, such as making St Leonard’s Street and Wharf Road multi-storey, and that issues with the payment machines can cause significant queues.

The report also noted there are inconsistent parking charges between the towns in South Kesteven, which could differ further as the council plans to increase its prices.

The findings of the capacity study support plans to extend Cattlemarket car park – which were initially put forward in 2020 and delayed due to the pandemic - but suggest more signage is needed to ensure drivers are aware of this increased provision.

At a finance committee meeting on Tuesday (February 20), councillors will be asked to give the go ahead to the £500,000 expansion project.

They will also be asked to agree to another car parking study, six months after the increased parking tariffs are introduced to assess their impact.

Drivers can currently park for free in Bourne and Market Deeping.

Although the survey found capacity is being reached occasionally, introducing paid-for parking would likely not secure a financial return.

The survey also found there is more car parking than needed in Grantham.

A Stamford man recently called for cheaper parking as the solution town’s traffic problems.

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