A proposal to create a village car park in a sheep field in an area of outstanding natural beauty has been described as ‘baa-rmy’ by one local resident.
Mylor Parish Council has been looking for a site for a car park in Flushing for nearly 50 years and now thinks it may have found solution, but not everybody is happy.
The site earmarked as a possible position for the car park is a sheep field on the western side of the village above an area known as Little Falmouth, but it is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Flushing resident Phil Wilton fears that the car park will lead to damage to the area and pollution.
The parish council says it has an option to lease the land for a car park
He told the Packet: “Our parish council has decided without public consultation that after a 40 year search that the best and only location for a car park serving the needs of Flushing car owners should be a sheep field with designated protected AONB status on the outskirts of Flushing in Little Falmouth.
“The surface of the car park is planned to be laid with plastic matting which with thousands of car movements will produce micro filaments of plastic and tyre rubber particles which without highly expensive mitigation find their way into the Fal estuary, a precious and highly fragile eco-system.
“Fuel and oil products spillages will also be a major risk with the car park being on a steep hill adjacent to the Penryn river creek. Car parking in Flushing is a nightmare, but we would encourage the parish council to think long and hard again after the local elections to see if a more sustainable solution can be found.”
The parish council says it has an option to lease the land for a car park
However Mylor Parish Council says no decision has yet been made on the site and there will be public consultation before any proposal goes ahead. It also says no decision has been made on the choice of materials to be used.
Parish clerk Anna Pentecost told the Packet the parish council was looking to provide a car park in Flushing, and had been for around 50 years. It has an option on leasing that land, but nothing has yet been firmly fixed.
She said there will be further public consultation before any final decisions are made, either regarding the location or the materials to be used.
Cllr Patrick Polglaze said this was very first, and overdue, step for a long-standing nightmare traffic parking situation which the parish council was looking to solve in a ‘sustainable, practical, environmental’ manner subject to process approvals and public consultation.
Article originally appeared on the Falmouth Packet
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