A COUNCILLOR has said he will fight on although efforts so far to try and get the North Street car park in Wellington improved appear to have hit a brick wall.

Cllr Keith Wheatley has been campaigning for better signage and general improvements to the car park – which is owned by Somerset Council – to make it more user-friendly and safer for pedestrians and motorists.

But his latest update to colleagues at Wellington Town Council did not offer much hope of anything happening any time soon.

Cllr Wheatley, speaking at the town council’s economic development committee on June 11, said: “I regret to say there hasn’t been any great progress.

“We have had another car park walkabout and noted the deteriorating state of the car park. Some of the road markings haven’t just faded – they are invisible!”

One of Cllr Wheatley’s big issues with the car park is the confusing and tatty signs supposedly telling people on how to pay.

“We have looked again and taken more photos of the very bad signage about how to pay,” he said. “The signs are so bad – they’re hopeless.

“We’ve reiterated our position to Somerset Council that we are willing to get involved in helping to improve things.”

But Cllr Wheatley – who has been working on the issue alongside the town council’s facilities manager Annette Kirk - said he was not having much joy in communication with Somerset Council about the car park problems.

“I had a reply to one email I sent and I received a gobbledygook response – I’ve never seen such a complicated reply to an email,” he said.

Cllr Wheatley also said they had suggested to Somerset Council about putting in a green painted strip to link the two pavements on either side of the car park junction at North Street – just to try and slow drivers down and remind them that pedestrians might be crossing. But again he told councillors that he had had no joy yet from the unitary authority about that idea.

But he remains resolute in doing what he can to get the job done. “The more we can press Somerset Council on the safety aspects of the car park the better,” he said.

Councillors also commented about their concerns and disappointments with the car park off Longforth Road and the one in South Street.

Cllr Wheatley added: “It’s great that we’ve got 400 car parking spaces so close to the town centre, but the maintenance of those car parks is currently awful.”

Councillors have previously said that the North Street car park has been used as an “illegal rat-run” for many years.

Problems have occurred in the past because drivers cut through the car park from its entrance on

Fore Street and drive down into North Street in order to avoid the traffic lights at the junction of

Fore Street, North Street, South Street and High Street by the Iron Duke pub.

They are worried that pedestrians could be in danger as there is no proper pavement for them to use.