The Willow Brook Centre’s manager, Scott Lahive, says “plans are in place” for “various improvements” to the town centre car park.
The reply follows criticism from readers of The Bradley Stoke Examiner – comments have ranged from the “lighting being terrible” to “most stupid car park layout I have ever seen”.
Mr Lahive told us: “By early January a total of 300 extra spaces will be available and these are all nearer to the main entrance.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience over the 10 weeks it is taking to demolition the old store and lay the new car park.”
We’ve included Mr Lahive’s statement in full below:
We fully appreciate the recent concerns raised regarding the centre’s car park and plans are in place to implement various improvement. Next week an additional 150 spaces become available, all of which are nearer to the main entrance than those currently in use. We are also anxious to complete the phased construction of the car park however, under the circumstance it could not have been made any easier.
It was essential that the old Tesco store continued to trade right up until the new store opened as the store catered for the vast majority of Bradley Stoke’s shopping needs. If the decision had been made to closed the store for construction to commence we won’t have been faced with challenges we are currently being faced with however, this was never an option and never considered because the store played such a vital role in the local community. I am sure the residents of Bradley Stoke fully appreciate this.
Bradley Stoke has waited nearly 20 years for a town centre so hopefully the wait of another four weeks won’t be too daunting. By early January a total of 300 extra spaces will be available and these are all nearer to the main entrance.
We appreciate everyone’s patience over the 10 weeks it is taking to demolition the old store and lay the new car park.
It was never going to be easy building a new shopping centre around existing shopping facilities however, from start to finish it would have only taken one year to complete.
The developers have invested nearly £80 million on the new town centre which demonstrates that we are here for the long term and value the feedback you have provided.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Mark II // Nov 29, 2008 at 1:29 am
Scott, I’m sure most of the people of the town appreciate whats been achieved and the fact that we have now have a town centre to be proud of. I feel the new store and the centre in general are very impressive.
Its just seems a shame that such a great project has not put a couple of finishing touches on, which has caused people to focus on these omissions instead of on the many positives.
Considering it rains most days of the year, it seems surprising the town square area was not covered. Being able to stroll between the various outlets during a rain storm without getting soaked would have been nice and because of this, would have been somewhere people would think of visiting when its raining, rather than avoiding.
Even just overhanging the roof of the structure a bit more would have allowed people to keep dry walking around the edge of the town square.
I think there is some unfair criticism on the parking which is failing to take into account the fact that the car park is not yet finished.
However, there is one problem I have with the car park which is not covered by this excuse.
I have no problem with having to walk a bit further when necessary.
Having a car park that is completely covered to keep us dry the whole way from the store to the car is a lovely thought, but completely unrealistic.
The main problem I have with the car park is the total lack of provision for people to walk through it (safely).
I would ask the designers to visit at a reasonably busy time, with a few young children in tow, park half way across the car park and then see how much fun they have trying to make it safely to the other side.
For an area very popular with young families, the design of the car park seems to have forgotten to offer any help to a parent pushing a trolley load of shopping whilst trying to make sure a few young children don’t stray into the path of cars driving past, or have a car reverse out of a space into them because they don’t see the child, as there is no option other than to walk your family along the road ways.
For me, the walk to and from the car completely spoils the visit. (We do often walk to the centre but thats’s not practicle if your doing a family shop.)
Paved walkways in between each line of cars would have been such a great help. I think anyone that would care more about the loss of parking spaces this would cause compared to the added safety aspect, would have their priorities wrong.
I know many other car parks have this flaw, but here there was the opportunity to do it right. For all people to be able to get out of their cars onto a walkway, not onto the roadway.
Its an opportunity thats been missed.
I know I would certainly not complain if I had to suffer a bit more disruption in order to put this right, but I suspect the opportunity for this has now gone?
2 Bert // Nov 29, 2008 at 11:28 am
Scott, nice to see you responding to the concerns raised. Ultimately, the quality of the whole development will determine visitor numbers and consequently the commandable rental value.
However, I think you may have missed the primary concern, which is *not* the proximity of parking spaces to the shops – I think most people are happy to walk the length of the car park to get there – but rather some of the more practical aspects, such as the current inability to traverse parking rows, the poor lighting and the puddling of rainwater where pedestrians have to walk. Hopefully, these are easy issues to remedy. I may return in the new year when the car-park is complete, so I’ll reserve judgement until then.
3 Mike // Nov 29, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Scott, we are all grateful for the town centre you have built for us. I’m sure you are under a lot pressure. Any plans to increase the number of trolley bays? I know the trolley people I doing the best they can (I know one), but have expressed concerns that there are not enough bays, lazy people then leave trolleys in the parking spaces.
I really like the new gates that have been installed. Christmas decorations look great.
Mike
4 Mark III // Dec 4, 2008 at 8:38 am
Hi Scott, Is there any news regarding new shops, restraunts or other tennants such as the Dentist, Town Council? Are we going to hear any new announcements soon?
5 Dixie // Jun 4, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Sorry about this; it is not about the car parking but about the litter & plastic bags that blow “OUT” of the Willow Centre car park across the road and into Savages Wood & the Leisure Centre. Why don’t WBC have a 4 feet high fence so that they can keep their litter within their own domain AND CLEAR IT UP! Its a wonder that car engines haven’t been fouled by the plastic bags?
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