Unsafe lifts at a Nottinghamshire car park won’t be replaced for another 12 months. All lifts at the multi-storey Mansfield’s Walkden Street car park have been out of use since January 2023 after being deemed as a health and safety risk by Mansfield District Council.
The car park is split into two sides – sides A and B – and side A lifts were taken out of use during an urban greening project by the authority in 2022. This decision, the authority said, was taken as a “matter of safety” as they exited onto the construction site.
Side B lifts were also taken out of service in January this year after investigations deemed them “unsafe” to use. Measures were then put in place on the ground floor of the car park to accommodate blue badge holders, Shopmobility customers and parent and child visitors.
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The Labour-led authority apologised to the public in April and said it was looking for a “long-term resolution”. Now a cabinet member has confirmed all lifts at the car park will not be replaced until July next year.
It followed a question posed at the full council meeting on Tuesday (July 4) by Conservative group deputy leader Councillor Sinead Anderson.
Councillor Anderson, who represents the Thompsons ward, said: “Our area has many residents with complex health needs and health conditions which affect their mobility.
“The lack of working lifts at Walkden Street car park is a barrier to town centre accessibility. MDC has already spent £1.7m on the refurbishment of the Walkden Street car park.
“Can the portfolio holder confirm when the council plans to repair the lifts at Walkden Street Car Park?”
In response, Councillor Stuart Richardson (Lab), portfolio holder for regeneration, said: “The lifts at Walkden Street car park do require replacement and are due to be replaced in 2023/24.
“As part of the planned preventative works programme, these will need to be procured with design, specification and [contract] tender scheduled to take place between July to October 2023.
“It is anticipated a contractor will be appointed in November 2023 and commence on-site in February 2024, with completion of the project in July 2024.”
His response prompted Councillor Anderson to then ask what preventative measures the authority will take to ensure the lifts do not fail again following the repairs.
She said: “With that in mind, is there going to be an ongoing maintenance programme to ensure this situation doesn’t arise again?”
Councillor Richardson replied: “There’s always an ongoing maintenance programme with lifts because they have to be safe and usable.
“They do need replacing, perhaps there will be further problems with the lifts. That’s why they’re being replaced by July 2024.”
It comes after nearly £2m was spent repairing and refurbishing the 355-bay car park over the past three-and-a-half years.
The refurbishments, costing £1.7m, were brought about to “enhance the look” of the car park and replace 1970s concrete cladding which was coming “to the end of its life”.
Further repairs were later identified costing more than £150,000 to prevent water leaks affecting shops based underneath it.
These were discovered during the re-cladding and included concrete improvements and repairs to “significant” water ingress on ground-floor shops.
Repairing and refurbishing the car park is the responsibility of the Labour-led authority due to a long-term lease signed when it was first built.
