A PARKING company boss has spoken out about the community benefits of a 700-space car storage facility in Thelwall.

Mark Doubleday, a Thelwall resident and managing director of Cheshire Airport Parking Ltd, is inviting residents to consider the benefits of developing the facility for storing holidaymakers' cars in the village.

The application for the car park, operating on behalf of the Clayton Hotel in Manchester Airport, has been at the centre of a planning battle since March 2018 after Warrington Borough Council deemed there was no special circumstances to carry out development in the green belt off Lymm Road.

A new application proposes an assault course and public amenity area, along with the demolition and clearance of the other existing buildings and structures on the former Caddicks Nursery site.

The proposals state that customers' cars will be moved from the Clayton Hotel to the Lymm Road site between 7pm and 7am, avoiding peak hours.

Mark explained: "The customers arrive at the hotel and we remove the cars overnight – there's no transporting during the day.

"We're not increasing the traffic, there will be about 50 cars moving a day – that's the first big misconception from people.

"We have looked to do everything properly, we are a reputable company and we store the keys properly and don't park cars illegally on the streets."

Mark said that the lack of any brownfield alternatives within the company's operating window has required them to consider the greenfield site.

The site they settled on has already been subject to 10 years of enforcement action by Warrington Borough Council. 

The planning application includes the removal of unsightly buildings and structures and a bid to carry out physical improvements which has had support from schools and sports clubs.

Mark said: "There has got to be a common sense approach, this is not green field land and it would solve the issues that have been going on.

"We are looking to take down the buildings.

"Half of the site will be an assault course operating during the day when there are no cars being moved.

"There will also be a dog walking area for residents.

"The back of the site currently has planning permission for a horticultural centre, and we will not bringing the big vans that a horticultural business would bring."

Mark also said that the move to the site would be a sustainable business and create further jobs for the area.

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He said: "Manchester Airport is looking to increase the amount of passengers it takes.

"There's not enough parking at Manchester Airport and the expense puts people off.

"We are a cheaper alternative.

"We are also out of the airport, reducing congestion which Manchester Airport has already tried to solve with parking charges."

Last year, the company came under fire for already using the Lymm Road site despite having no permission to do so.

Mark commented that the company had informed planning officers and said they would be making the planning application retrospectively.

As the company had increased levels of business, he said they had no other option.

The company now has four weeks to leave their current Rushgreen Road site in Lymm due to housing developments.

Mark concluded: "I believe that this is a good option for this site and I hope that people can take a common sense view of this application and what we are doing for the community.

"We find it hard to believe that if people read the application properly they would think there was an issue."