School site to be overflow coach park (From Thisisdorset)

School site to be overflow coach park

11:00am Sunday 7th September 2008

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A STAFF car park at the comprehensive Purbeck School in Wareham can be used as an overflow coach park at weekends and in the holidays, Purbeck councillors have unanimously decided.

Councillors were told that it would enable coaches to park out of the town centre when not in use which would reduce congestion within Wareham.

It is claimed that this could encourage more coaches to visit Wareham and bring in more visitors - and help boost the local economy.

The county council, which runs the school, has confirmed it has no objection and that the application would not be subject to the controversial development tax highways contribution as 'it does not generate any traffic that isn't already on the network'.

In the Purbeck local plan an out-of-town site for coach parking was specified at the industrial estate area of Sandford Lane.

The landowner, however, did not support that.

Two years ago the district council revealed it had been in talks with the owner with a view to buying the land.

The previous year (2005) the land-owning Drax estate, which is based at Charborough Park, had gained planning approval for an application to use part of the site as an office block headquarters for the housing association that now runs all Purbeck council's former housing stock.

There would also have been a coach park on the land.

Councillors were then in late 2005 asked to contribute towards the cost of providing the coach and lorry park - an approach they rejected.

The council argued at that time that planning permission had only been granted to the landowner on the basis that the coach park was provided - and that the costs of creating that parking should be met from the increased value of the land with the approval for offices to be built there.

The housing trust continues to be based in Purbeck council-owned offices at the Westminster Road industrial estate.

More recently it was involved in negotiations over acquiring the magistrates court site at Worgret Road, to redevelop that as a landmark three-storey office complex.

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