Petitioners plead with Bradford Council bosses to stop car park sale

The Skirrow Street car park in Cottingley is one of over 150 assets included on a list of Bradford Council properties the authority is considering selling to raise £60m in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.

The car park has space for 10 cars, and people living near the plot of land say it provides vital free parking in part of the village with narrow streets and few other legal parking spaces.

A petition calling for the Council to remove the car park from the list of assets to be sold was signed by over 340 people, and at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Executive on Tuesday members heard from the petitioners.

Hilary Charnock, Chair of Cottingley Town Hall Church and Community Centre, told the Executive: “There are concerns around the loss of free parking from long-time residents of Cottingley.

The Skirrow Street car park (Image: T&A)

“We do appreciate the financial difficulties being experienced by the Council, and that you are attempting to meet your legal obligations, but residents remain very, very concerned about losing this piece of land.”

The Executive was told that there were very few legal parking spaces in this area of Cottingley, and streets were already “overwhelmed” at school drop off and pick up times.

The loss of the car park could add another 10 cars competing for the already limited spaces.

She pointed out that the Town Hall held numerous events, including an Eid celebration this week, and in 2025 would be hosting an exhibition on the Cottingley Faries photographs.

She added: “Forcing an extra 10 residents to park on the main street will impact on viability of events in the hall.

“We’ve thought about residents parking permits, but that wouldn’t solve the problem of people not being able to park for community events.”

Residents had also thought about taking on the property through an asset transfer, but Mrs said this could cause “disharmony” in the area if some people paid towards the car park and others didn’t.

Residents also feared that charges could be introduced if the car park was sold.

Council leader Susan Hichcliffe thanked the petitioners for the work they do at the town hall.

She said the list of over 150 properties was drawn up to raise £60m in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.

The Executive said the Council would review each property on the list before it was put up for sale, and the issues raised by petitioners would be considered.