Mansfield car park repairs to cost £2.1 million – but no start date confirmed yet

Walkden Street Car Park, in Mansfield
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A Mansfield car park with safety problems will cost around £2.1m to fix, the council has confirmed. The Walkden Street car park was closed in February after “extensive” structural problems were discovered.

It was expected to be closed for at least twelve months, and the Labour-run authority has now said there isn’t a start date for the repairs to begin. Opposition councillors compared the car park to a “millstone” dragging down the council at a full council meeting on Tuesday (September 17).

Councillor Stuart Richardson (Lab), the portfolio holder for regeneration and growth, told the meeting: “There is currently no date to start repairs. Similar works are planned for the Four Seasons car park, and they will be phased to ensure they are both not closed simultaneously.

“The total cost for Walkden Street will be £2.1m, including the renewal of four lifts.” He added: “It’s unlikely [the closure] will have stopped people parking in the town centre of Mansfield, just displaced them to other areas. Income and footfall have not been lost to the town.”

A total of 162 defects were found which needed structural repairs during the inspection at the Walkden Street car park earlier this year. It was also closed between 2020 and 2022 to replace the building’s cladding, which was at the end of its life.

It has been fully closed for approximately 60 per cent of all the time since the start of 2020, according to figures Cllr Richardson provided. He added that while income from the car park had stopped during its closure, expenses had also reduced.

Councillor Martin Wright (Mans Ind) asked if it had been wise for the council to take a 99-year lease on a building which had been constructed in 1975. He described it as a “millstone of a lease” given the repairs which have been needed. Cllr Richardson didn’t respond.

The council previously said it hoped to appoint a contractor for repairs this summer, and repairs would likely take nine to 12 months once that was done. The Four Seasons car park is also in need of around £2m of repairs, and will remain open while these are completed. The council said last month it hadn’t been able to appoint a contractor as quickly as it had hoped.