CHRISTCHURCH residents have voted overwhelmingly in support of the town council taking on a town centre car park.

More than 80 per cent of residents responding to Christchurch Town Council’s consultation said they supported the purchase of the Bypass car park from BCP Council.

The car park, near Waitrose, was first agreed for sale at a BCP Council meeting in September 2023.

In March of this year, Christchurch Town Council decided to proceed with the asset transfer, with plans to then lease the car park to Waitrose.

Residents were also told 90 minutes of free car parking would be offered with the completion of the sale.

A public consultation running between April 22 and June 17 received feedback from 178 people.

A total of 149 respondents said they ‘strongly agreed’ and 19 ‘agreed’ with Christchurch Town Council going ahead with the asset transfer, while three ‘disagreed’, two ‘strongly disagreed’ and five ‘neither agreed or disagreed’.

Meanwhile, 142 respondents said they ‘strongly agreed’ and 19 ‘agreed’ with residents and visitors getting 90-minutes free parking, while six ‘disagreed’, one ‘strongly disagreed’ and ten ‘neither agreed or disagreed’.

Respondents also had the opportunity to add comments.

One said: “This is very positive news! Slowly Christchurch is gaining back parts of our lovely town.”

Another said: “It is great that the town council has achieved this for Christchurch residents. I really hope it will help the town centre.”

One individual suggested Christchurch introduce a residents’ parking scheme, and another asked the town council to ‘make sure that it's kept as a car park for the town, and not as investment for development’.

The findings of the consultation were shared at Christchurch Town Council’s full council meeting on July 8.

Acting Town Clerk James Atkinson informed members the car park was a ‘priority project’ and said work was underway to complete the report to apply for the loan from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities.

He clarified that the draft Heads of Terms had been reviewed by the Premises Project Board previously and work was being done with the legal representation to get this completed.