Councillors approve £12m parking plan for Maidenhead and Windsor

A £12m parking plan which would see 100 extra spaces in Windsor and more than 2,000 in Maidenhead was approved by councillors on Tuesday.

The report proposed temporary and permanent solutions for Maidenhead’s regeneration, which include a 1,500 space Broadway car park, underground car parking in Saint-Cloud Way for 260 spaces, parking at the new Braywick leisure centre, and an additional deck in Stafferton Way.

An analysis of parking in Windsor also found there was ‘sufficient’ need for an additional deck at the River Street car park.

Cllr Wisom Da Costa (Ind, Clewer North) criticised the report as it had not been scrutinised by councillors ahead of the meeting.

He said: “Surely you’re not proposing a multi-storey car park beside the picturesque River Thames in historic Windsor? Not on my watch.”

The monitoring officer Mary Kilner said it didn’t need to go to an overview and scrutiny panel as it was coming to full council for councillors to discuss.

Cllr Simon Werner (Lib Dem, Pinkneys Green) said: “If you get this parking wrong, Maidenhead town centre will cease to exist.

“There are nine pages of this, so not a huge amount of detail and far too many questions. I find it quite shocking we are expected to make this decision.”

The additional spaces in River Street would be available from 2019/2020, but Cllr Malcolm Beer (Ind, Old Windsor) said CCTV would be necessary in the car parks to keep people safe.

Cllr Simon Dudley (Con, Riverside) and leader of the council said: “We are investing heavily in CCTV, with further investment in some of the car parks, particularly Windsor in light of tragic events. So there will be investment there.”

Last week the Advertiser and Express reported Cllr Dudley had met with Superintendent Bhupinder Rai, in charge of local policing in Windsor and Maidenhead to discuss public safety concerns following two rapes, including one in the Victoria Street car park, and a violent assault in Goswell Hill which led to the death of a 50-year-old man in the past month.

Responding to Cllr Werner, he said: “You will reap a bitter harvest. We are putting the infrastructure in place to benefit our residents.”