Council plans £200,000 car park maintenance works

The Swan Centre car park was built in 1982

A Surrey council could spend nearly £200,000 on maintenance works on a town centre car park.

Mole Valley District Council said works on the Swan Centre multi-storey car park, in Leatherhead, were essential.

The 1982 facility, with 247 spaces over six levels, needs regular repair and maintenance, the council said.

Its scrutiny committee will look at approving £95,500 for works at a meeting on Monday.

A final decision on the budget will be taken by the council's cabinet on 17 July.

Meeting documents show an additional £50,000 is likely to be requested in both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years.

A report said: "The car park is of an age where regular maintenance and repair is essential to prevent deterioration of the structure and building fabric and to prevent higher costs in future.

"These works are essential for health and safety reasons."

It also said the works were needed in order for the council to meet its legal obligations to maintain the car park ahead of improvement works in a Leatherhead regeneration plan.

In 2022, the council drew up a five-year maintenance schedule for the car park and in April was notified of concerns from a member of the public about patches of cracked concrete.

The concerns, which were brought to the council by the Southern Building Control Partnership, were sufficiently addressed in the maintenance plan, according to the council.

Previous recommendations in the maintenance schedule were not taken forward between 2022 and 2024, "due to budgetary constraints".

The officers' report said: "However, these items now need to be addressed for health, safety and compliance reasons, and the allocation of revenue funding is requested accordingly."