Council sells car park site to ease 'debt burden'

Surrey Heath Borough Council has approved plans to sell part of Yorktown car park

A council has agreed to sell part of a car park to bring in "much-needed cash" and help meet government housing targets.

Surrey Heath Borough Council had said car parks that "did not pay for themselves" would be sold.

It added that the Yorktown site in Sullivan Road, Camberley, was only bringing in £9,000 a year. As a result, the authority has decided to sell part of the land, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The council approved the plan on Tuesday, meaning the car park will lose 73 spaces.

Kel Finan-Cooke, property and economic development holder, said there were "no objections raised to allocating the site to housing".

She added that it would hopefully generate "much-needed capital" to "reduce the council's substantial debt burden".

"The remainder of the car park, which the council would still own and operate, would still have 64 bays, more than enough to cope with the current demand," she added.

It comes as the council aims to cut £3.14m from its budget and increase service charges to balance the books.

The council reportedly expects the funds from the sale to be paid by the end of the year.

Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook, on X. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.