Traders 'in the dark' about city car park closure

Kim Mace said there has been "zero" information from the council

Market traders in Truro have said they are losing business after a multi-storey car park in the city was partially closed in May.

Decks four to nine of the council-owned Moorfield car park were shut on 21 May following a routine inspection of the structure which highlighted "concerns".

Traders in Lemon Street Market said footfall was down and they felt they were being kept "in the dark" as the council has not communicated with them since the closure.

Cornwall Council said that safety was "paramount" and pointed to other car parks in the city and that its data showed an increase in footfall in the market compared to last year.

The upper storeys of Moorfield car park were closed on 21 May

Rosie Houghton of Wishlist, a boutique in Lemon Street Market, said: "No-one here has had any communication from the council. We've heard nothing. We are in the dark."

Kim Mace, who owns the Fig Café and Simply Bakes in the market, said there had been "zero" information from the council.

She said the first that traders knew about the reduction in parking was the morning after the storeys had been closed.

She added that she had seen fewer customers and explained that groups of friends who used to meet a couple of times a week in the café had stopped doing so due to the lack of parking.

Graham Bradshaw said many of his customers used the park and ride service

She explained the market's proximity to Moorfield car park used to lead to new custom: "People just happen to park in there and then stumble across us, that's what we're losing and we know we'll lose even more when season comes."

In the centre of town the Truro Farmers' Market remained busy thanks to the park and ride services, chairman Graham Bradshaw said.

Saturday saw record trading, he said, but the summer holidays could pose a challenge.

"In the next couple of weeks we're going to be absolutely rammed in here so I imagine car parking will be questioned quite a bit then," he added.

Kris Fleming said footfall in the city was good

Kris Fleming, chair of Truro BID, said Truro was trading "really well" and it was "bad timing" to have a reduction in parking.

"We're doing our job by making the town buoyant," he said, "and our footfall figures are really good at the moment."

Decks four to nine of Moorfield car park were closed in May

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said 244 spaces remained available on the ground floor.

They said: "Safety is paramount and the decision to close the upper decks of Moorfield car park is based on robust evidence."

 They pointed to the park and ride services and to council-owned car parks around the city and added the NCP car park has "plenty of capacity".

Responding to the issues raised by the Lemon Street Market traders, they said: "We also understand that weekly footfall figures in Lemon Street are generally higher compared to last year with the year-on-year data showing an increase of footfall."