Questions have been raised over whether City of York Council should open its headquarters car park up for public use.
It comes after people were allowed to park while unloading for a hotel event at West Offices last Sunday (8 December).
Green transport spokesperson Andy D’Agorne said using the council HQ car park for a wedding fayre at The Grand showed its potential for cycle storage – and raised fairness issues.
Mr D’Agorne spoke to LDRS after seeing the cars at West Offices on Sunday.
He said he saw no reason why the council could not allow people to store bikes there if it could open it for the event.
The Green Party member also questioned allowing people to use the car park for free, given parking would be charged elsewhere – and allowing non-Blue Badge holders to use disabled bays.
Mr D’Agorne said: “West Offices car park is a secure, closed area that could easily be suitable to use for bike storage.
“There’s people who are having bikes stolen in York at the moment.
“There also seems to be an inconsistency with the council restricting city centre Blue Badge parking during the Christmas Market while letting non-Blue Badge holders use disabled spaces for an event at The Grand.
“The car park is normally locked all weekend, but on Sunday the council allowed it to be used for a luxury event.”
Gesture of support
Council facilities manager Ms Armstrong said West Offices car park was made available for businesses to unload and load before and after the hotel event, not as overflow for visitors.
She added no payments were made and it was opened as a gesture of support for which the council occassionally did to support businesses and strengthen partnerships in the city.
The facilities manager said: “The gates were temporarily unlocked on Sunday to allow exhibitors attending a fair at The Grand to park after unloading their materials.
“Once unloading was completed, the gates were relocked and reopened only when the event ended.
“Using West Offices’ car park for routine, additional cycle parking for the public would mean timetabling extra security measures to properly manage access and ensure the safety of users.
“Car park security for this one-off event coincided with existing security arrangements.
“West Offices’ car park is usually reserved for disabled visitors to the building during business hours.
“As the event was held outside business hours, we were able to use our discretion and allow exhibitors without Blue Badges to temporarily park in these spaces.”