Cost of extra spaces at lorry park could rise to £800,000

An extension to a council lorry park will now cost almost £800,000.

That is higher than figures Newark and Sherwood District Council members were quoted previously — £341,552 to build the extension, with total project costs from £460,000 to £500,000.

Sixty-seven spaces could be added to the lorry park on Great North Road, Newark, to replace those lost to allow a new headquarters for the council to be built.

A concrete roadway is now said to be needed as part of the extension, taking the total cost of the project to £792,224.

The construction of the new headquarters, which should be occupied in the autumn, meant the number of spaces for parking, including overnight, fell to 122 from 160.

Further land could be built on

The reduction led to a loss in revenue for the council and drivers cannot be assured of a space for the night.

It is anticipated that further land on the site could be built on, meaning the number of available spaces would be reduced again to 100.

The council’s economic development committee agreed an extension to the site that would create 67 new spaces, meaning 167 could be available in future.

It also said a hard-wearing concrete roadway was needed. That option was more expensive than adding a roadway of compacted stone and gravel, which would have made the total bill £747,571.

The committee’s decision will now be considered by the district council’s policy and finance committee.

Last year members decided to extend the lorry park rather than move it elsewhere or manage with fewer spaces.

The cost of a new lorry park would have been between £1.7m and £2.2m, depending on its location.

A survey in 2015 revealed a need for the park.

Newark is a popular stopping-off and rest point for many HGV drivers travelling to and from southern and eastern ports and the north and west of the country.

A capital project appraisal, put together by the council’s business manager for markets and carparks, said if the extension plans were not approved it would lead to ‘inappropriate’ parking.

The council leadership was previously criticised by members for dealing with the lorry park in isolation to the planning application for the council’s new offices.

Members said they should have been made aware of the £85,750-a-year lost revenue from the reduction in spaces at the time the planning application for the new council headquarters, which will replace Kelham Hall, went to committee.

The council has spent around £7m on its new headquarters. It will receive £4m from the sale of Kelham Hall, where it has been based since 1974.

It estimates it will save £420,000 a year in running costs.