A TEMPORARY car park in Winchester has been made permanent despite calls for it to be used as a coach area to save a popular BMX trail.
Campaigners are fighting to save Bar End Trails from being bulldozed to make way for a 14-bay coach area, and one suggestion was that the car park at Bar End Road for Hampshire County Council staff could be used instead.
But Winchester City Council planning officers have decided that the car park near the St Catherine’s Park and Ride will now be made permanent, having raised no objection to an application by the county council.
As previously reported, users of the trail next to the St Catherine’s Park and Ride launched a petition to save the space, which has attracted more than 22,000 names.
READ: Campaigners battle to save BMX trails from being bulldozed >>>
Last month members of Winchester City Council’s cabinet said a decision will now be made on the site in April, rather than February as first planned.
Councillor Jan Warwick, portfolio holder for transport and the environment, asked for the plans to be postponed so that the council had time to look into alternative sites.
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