Carlton Court Car Park
(Page Updated April 23rd)
Many members will have seen or heard about the work going on fencing off parts of the Carlton Court car park. Some people think that the owners are about to develop the site. No planning application has been submitted and it is extremely unlikely that this is happening.
We are aware of an approach by the owners to the council to develop residential apartments on part of the car park but were not allowed to see details. You may have noticed a while back that cameras appeared on the entrance and exit to the car park. We believe these may have been installed to measure the use of the car park. We think that the owner is playing a planning game by closing off most of the car park, leaving only 18 spaces, in an attempt to show that any future development which only provided a much reduced parking space would be acceptable - unfortunately the council does not require much parking in new developments these days, but such an eventuality would be disastrous for the village centre. We are also very concerned about the road safety hazards that are being created.
Planning permission was given for Carlton Court around 1960. In those days planning permissions had few conditions and apart from the height of the fencing we may find that what has been done is not unlawful. That said, we shall be making representations to the owner, the council and our local councillors. Further information, as and when it becomes available will be put on our website and emailed to our members and those of the Car Park mailing list.
Andy Renshaw
Chair of Westbury on Trym Society
Update 22/04/25 Andy has written to to owners of the site and their letting agents, expressing deep concerns and asking for clarification as to their intentions. While we do not anticipate a positive response, this is the first step in the process... Click here to view the letter...
Update 23/04/25 It appears the concrete blocks were a temporary measure to stop people parking. These are now being moved and wooden posts are being concreted into the ground to enable yet more fencing. The fencing also removes access to the ramp and shallow steps to Carlton Court.
Click here to see more photographs of the work done to date...
We are aware of an approach by the owners to the council to develop residential apartments on part of the car park but were not allowed to see details. You may have noticed a while back that cameras appeared on the entrance and exit to the car park. We believe these may have been installed to measure the use of the car park. We think that the owner is playing a planning game by closing off most of the car park, leaving only 18 spaces, in an attempt to show that any future development which only provided a much reduced parking space would be acceptable - unfortunately the council does not require much parking in new developments these days, but such an eventuality would be disastrous for the village centre. We are also very concerned about the road safety hazards that are being created.
Planning permission was given for Carlton Court around 1960. In those days planning permissions had few conditions and apart from the height of the fencing we may find that what has been done is not unlawful. That said, we shall be making representations to the owner, the council and our local councillors. Further information, as and when it becomes available will be put on our website and emailed to our members and those of the Car Park mailing list.
Andy Renshaw
Chair of Westbury on Trym Society
Update 22/04/25 Andy has written to to owners of the site and their letting agents, expressing deep concerns and asking for clarification as to their intentions. While we do not anticipate a positive response, this is the first step in the process... Click here to view the letter...
Update 23/04/25 It appears the concrete blocks were a temporary measure to stop people parking. These are now being moved and wooden posts are being concreted into the ground to enable yet more fencing. The fencing also removes access to the ramp and shallow steps to Carlton Court.
Click here to see more photographs of the work done to date...
