Parking in Huntingdon

Superb new Multi-Story car park in Huntingdon.  Fantastic design, well built and spotlessly maintained. Only one problem  - no cars !!  It would be really interesting to see the planning figures for "the number of cars" that formed the basis for the original Business Case.  When Sainsbury's moves to the other side of town I suspect there will be even fewer cars.

When I visited at 1600 on Monday the 4th of August there were only 6 cars in the whole new car park which has 300 parking spaces over 4 levels.  I make that a 2% fill rate.  More a statement on the attractiveness of Huntingdon Town Centre rather than the car park - but a very useful barometer of the fortunes of Huntingdon Town Centre

On Monday 20th October at 1300 there were only 30 cars in the car park - only a 10% fill rate.  Slightly better than when the car park opened but there were no cars on the 2nd and 3rd floors and the top floor is still closed.

So maybe this is the start of the Huntingdon "Car Park" index

Don't get me wrong - dramatic redevelopment of Huntingdon Town Centre is long overdue but building an empty car park will not change anything.  I do hope that Huntingdonshire District Council has some form of master plan that will increase retail business in Huntingdon and fill up the car park

My car is getting a bit lonely !!

Written by Richard Wishart