Mansfield District Council has issued a statement in relation to the lifts at Walkden Street car park being out of use for four months.
Concerns were raised in a Facebook community group due to the lack of lifts in a car park in Mansfield town centre. People expressed concern for those who required a lift such as wheelchair users, pushchairs, and those with mobility scooters.
Mansfield District Council said is is testing the lifts in order to get them reopened as soon as possible. The car park has lifts which are split into two sides, Side A and Side B.
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The Side A lifts were out of use last year as a matter of safety as they exited onto the Pocket Park construction site. The Side B lifts have been out of service since January 2023 due to them being deemed unsafe.
Following the works on the Pocket Park being complete, on Tuesday April 11 engineers were on site testing the lifts in order to get them reopened as soon as possible.
A Mansfield District Council spokesperson said: “The lifts in the Walkden Street car park are split into two sides, Side A and Side B.
“Side A lifts were taken out of use when works began on the Pocket Park in 2022, part of the £1m Urban Greening project by Severn Trent in the town centre, as a matter of safety as they exited onto the construction site. However, now these works have been completed we have had engineers on site today (Tuesday 11 April) testing the lifts in order to get them reopened as soon as possible.
“The Side B lifts were in service until January of this year due to health and safety reasons.
“Whilst the lifts have not been deemed unsafe, we have taken the responsible approach of temporarily keeping them out of order whilst we explore what financial support is needed to recommission the lifts.
“We apologise to visitors for this disruption whilst the lifts remain out of order. However, we are pleased to say we have put provisions in place on the bottom level of the car park to ensure it can be used by blue badge holders, Shopmobility customers and parent and child visitors only. Queens Street is still open for disabled car parking access as is Stockwell Gate. There is disabled car parking provisions in all of the Mansfield District Council car parks, district-wide.
“The council is committed to fixing the lifts as soon as possible, and thanks shoppers for their patience whilst we find a long-term resolution to the issues.”
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