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Lying empty – misery of £2.5m park ride scheme
Future: The park and ride scheme at Bluebell Way, Fulwood, is still up for sale
A failed park and ride site, dubbed a “white elephant” by critics, is still lying empty and unused after nearly two years, costing the public purse each day in maintenance.
Lancashire County Council says it has had “interest” in the disastrous £2.5m park and ride at Bluebell Way, Fulwood, but has confirmed it still has not been put up for sale.
A spokesman said the council was currently considering other uses for the large site.
County Coun Tim Ashton, formerly County Hall’s main transport boss, said interest in the site had mainly been from the commercial sector.
He said: “It has been for sale for some time now. We have had lots of interest. It was a white elephant we inherited from the Labour administration. It just was not being used.
“It is a relatively small amount to maintain it now, we obviously want to get the best value for the site.
“We don’t want to just sell it for a small amount. We don’t want to throw good money after bad.”
He added: “This area of Preston did not develop as fast as could have done and the problem was the bus service went all around the houses instead of straight into the city.”
Councillors decided to sell off the Bluebell Way park and ride in 2010, after little more than 18 months.
Only a handful of cars have ever used it, it was never served by a direct bus service to the city centre and attempted link-ups with the likes of BAE Systems, Preston North End and the Royal Preston Hospital did not come to fruition. Eddie Sutton, assistant chief executive at CC, said: “Bluebell Way is the type of site we could deal through Lancashire Regeneration Property Partnerships (a new partnership the council is setting up to manage its property) once the procurement process to establish the partnerships is complete.
“Given that we are hoping to conclude this process by the end of the year, it makes sense to wait until then before we look again at the Bluebell Way site as we believe this will result in a better overall outcome for the county council.”
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Sunday 19 May 2013
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