THE borough council has vowed to resolve ‘parking problems’ at Eastrop Park following the introduction of free unlimited parking.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council introduced free parking at the Basingstoke town centre park in July last year following a campaign.

Furious residents held protests at the park and signed a petition after the former Conservative administration introduced parking charges for the first time in the park’s 50-year history in September 2022.

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(Image: Newsquest) The decision was made to introduce charges despite just one person supporting the proposals through a public consultation.

After a change in administration last year, the council’s new cabinet removed the charges allowing free unlimited parking.

But now, members of a walking group say the free parking “isn’t working” and are calling for the council to solve the problem.

Jennifer Fuller, from Blackwater Close, in Basingstoke, who is part of the walking group, said drivers are using the car parks all day resulting in them becoming full by 8am.

“I don’t blame them, who wouldn’t make use of free parking?” she said, adding: “When the charges were introduced, cars were coming and going all day, and everyone could enjoy the park, or go into town for an hour.

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“So, if our council truly want families to enjoy the park this summer, reintroduce the charges, then they will be able to.”

She added: “I am heartily fed up with our council not addressing local issues unless it suits them.”

A spokesperson for the borough council said the free parking “enables access for all to the popular town centre park”.

However, it has been monitoring the use to ensure the car parks are available to park users and is working to resolve some of the problems. The spokesperson said: “During the colder months parking was not an issue for visitors to the park.

“More recently we have noticed the top car park, closest to the paddling pool, becoming full although parking spaces are available in the lower car park, close to the Roger Morris Centre.

“To reduce this problem, we have worked with companies at Basing View to provide more parking spaces for those people who commute to the town centre business park.

“We are also exploring other options including trialling the closure of the top car park at Eastrop Park over night to prevent misuse of the spaces. We will also update the signage at both car parks.”

The signs will be updated to let users know about the closure of the car park nearest to the paddling pool overnight.