Neighbours of the controversial Sadlers Mead car park have raised concerns over anti-social behaviour, blood and urine at the site, causing some motorists to avoid the car park.
The Sadlers Mead car park, which officially opened in Chippenham in January this year, has been marred by criticism and push back since before the ribbon was even cut.
Sue McGill, who has been documenting the structure since June 2020 said the police had been called to the multi-storey for various incidents.
In March, she saw the police evicting a group of people from the car park adding that the lift smelled strongly of cannabis and she found "bodily fluids" around the area.
Photos courtesy of Sue McGill
She said: "Because it is an affront to the people of Chippenham, it seems poetic justice that it appears to be being used as a latrine.
"In contrast, I’d chatted a couple of times with skateboarders, who were delightful.
"The young men said that they felt having somewhere sheltered to use their skateboards had helped them mentally during lockdown."
Mike Blanchard, who lives near the car park says that anti-social behaviour is a real issue at the car park and electric car charging points and fire extinguishers – which are covered in red and white tape – were potentially vandalised.
He said the issues have become so bad that people would rather illegally park in Monkton Park than at the multi-storey.
Mr Blanchard said: “There are also reports of drug dealing taking place and it is common to see suspicious cars entering and then leaving the car park within the time it takes to walk around Sadlers Mead towards the car park.
“Further evidence of antisocial behaviour that we never saw in the area before the car park was built.
“In a nutshell it is a development that nobody in the area wanted, it’s rare that it gets used for its intended purpose and it continues to cause issues.”
Cllr Nick Murry, said: “Wiltshire Council built this carpark against the wishes of the town council, local councillors, park users and local residents and we are already seeing all sorts of issues negatively impacting residents and park users – light pollution, alarms going off, anti-social behaviour.”
One resident, who wished to stay anonymous, said the “unwanted” car park has been an issue since its opening, with the fire alarm being pulled eight times in March, the clattering of skateboards – which they say goes on to as late as 3am – and the “strong smell” of cannabis.
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Concerns were also raised over the safety of skaters using the multi-storey and the potential for collisions with motorists.
“I’m rather hopeful that as lockdown ends and the car park gets used that it will become less and less used during the day as a skatepark,” they said.
They added, however, that it would be difficult to stop it happening again in the evenings.
Sadler Mead multi-storey car park. Photo Trevor Porter 67245 1
Sergeant Rich Marshall of the Chippenham Area Community Policing team said the force is aware of the on-going issues at the car park and has been working with Wiltshire Council to bring them to a close.
Officers have been carrying out extra patrols of the area, to provide a visible police presence which they hope will help in the apprehension of offenders and deter future troublemakers from congregating.
“During the recent national lockdown we did issue fixed penalty notices to people at the car park who were in breach of the Covid-19 regulations,” Sgt Marshall continued.
Wiltshire Police at Sadlers Mead car park Photo: Cllr Nick Murry
“We also have ongoing investigations into incidents of criminal damage. We would continue to encourage members of the public to report issues to us. You can do this by either calling our non-emergency 101 number, visiting our website, or calling 999 if a crime is in progress.”
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Director for place and environment, Sam Fox, confirmed that the local authority had received reports over vandalism and anti-social behaviour at the controversial car park and arrangements were in place to make repairs to the damaged property.
“We are working with Wiltshire Police to deter anti-social behaviour and the car park is being regularly inspected to ensure appropriate use,” Mr Fox said.
“The Sadlers Mead car park provides a vital parking facility which will support Chippenham retailers as they endeavour to recover them from the recent lockdown and return to historic shopping levels.”
Vandalism can be reported to the council via the MyWiltshire app or by emailing Streetscene@wiltshire.gov.uk
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