New station car park would assist disabled

Pressure on parking space at The Parkway has soared because of its popularity with London-bound business commuters and the boom in business at Southampton International Airport.

Now South West Trains has lodged a full planning application with Eastleigh Council to build a multi-storey car park over ground floor plus three levels to provide an additional 406 car spaces.

It is also good news for those who for many years have campaigned for better facilities for the disabled at The Parkway.

Currently the two platforms are linked by a footbridge with 27 steps on each side, which makes it a no-go area for many disabled passengers.

They have to use Southampton Central or Eastleigh Stations where the facilities are better.

As already reported by the Daily Echo, disabled passengers who use The Parkway and are unable to negotiate the bridge have to catch a taxi to drive them to the other platform via Wide Lane and the airport access road. But this inconvenience could soon be over.

For the multi-storey car park proposals would also include a new footbridge linking the station platforms with the lift facilities to comply with the Disability Discrim-ination Act.

An earlier application for an additional car parking deck to provide 89 spaces was refused by Eastleigh Council in November 2000 because the proposal lacked facilities for the disabled to cross the track.

The application was allowed on appeal subject to the applicant, Railtrack, providing suitable facilities for disabled people to cross the track. Plans for the multi-storey car park could go before Eastleigh Local Area Committee on May 17 at the earliest. Mr Geoff Wilkinson, who lives at Bitterne, Southampton, has campaigned for many years for facilities for the disabled at The Parkway.

He said: "As a disabled user of the station I welcome any improvements that can assist disabled people in using the platforms. This is long overdue."