Local businesses and residents have voiced concerns over Greenwich Council's plans to sell Council-owned car parks. Greenwich Council's Cabinet voted to agree in prinicple to sell the car parks - on Old Dover Road at Blackheath Standard, in Charlton Village, and the Abery Street Car Park in Plumstead - in October, with officers given delegated powers to proceed with the sales after consulting with the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Regeneration.
The car park sales are a part of the Council's Asset Review, as it struggles to balance the books following the Labour administration's belated admission of £26million in waste and inefficiency in the Council's annual budget.
Gino Gashi, who runs Caffe Moca on Old Dover Road, said: "The car park is always packed up and this space is full normally - it's a lot of cars, a lot of people use the car park and they're all worried about the parking... everyone is kind of worried. We are worried as well as the businesses - normally when it's busy, people come to park here so if not, they won't come to shop. So hopefully the Council don't sell it and we have a space here for everyone to park."
Councillor Matt Hartley, Leader of the Opposition, said: "Greenwich Council should be supporting local shopping parades - businesses like the ones Gino runs are at the heart of our communities right across the borough, and I'm very concerned that the Council is planning to sell off this and other car parks without even speaking to the small businesses this is going to impact. The sale of these three car parks has been approved in principle but won't happen without the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Regeneration being consulted - so I'm calling on them to make sure that a full Economic Impact Assessment is carried out before that happens."
Councillor Hartley will ask the following Members Question at this Wednesday's Council Meeting:
Member's Question from Councillor Matt Hartley to Councillor Antony Okereke, Leader of the Council
"In October, the council’s Cabinet approved delegated authority for the future sale of three council-owned car parks on Old Dover Road at Blackheath Standard, in Charlton Village, and Avery Street Car Park in Plumstead. The Leader of the Council (and the Cabinet Member for Planning, Estate Renewal & Development) will be consulted before any decision to dispose of each car park is made.
In advance of his being consulted in his role as Leader of the Council, will he request that officers conduct an Economic Impact Assessment on the sale of each car park, so he can fully assess the impact on local small businesses in each case before he gives his view?"
