Andover Liberal Democrats have asked for a review of parking provisions at the Shepherds Spring Nursery and Children’s Centre where parking controls are being introduced this month. The building of new houses behind the centre has removed most of the parking previously used, and caused problems with unauthorised parking at the nearby St Pauls church. The church cannot guarantee to supply parking for visitors to the centre.

Councillor Katherine Bird raised the shortage of parking when planning permission for the new houses was discussed only to be told it was not relevant to the application. She is now calling for a review of parking in the area. “The Children’s Centre is the only way for some people to access Health Visitor services in a safe environment. The courses run through the centre are essential for some families, supporting new families when they need the most help. Removing nearby parking will reduce the number of people accessing these services, and increase the risk to their health and well-being.”

The parking restrictions are part of a package of measures outside schools in Alamein ward introduced following a public consultation last October. Lib Dem spokesman Len Gates said “we fully support the need to control indiscriminate parking outside schools but are concerned about a shortage of parking here. This has been caused by overdevelopment of the site leaving insufficient parking for clients and staff of the children’s centre and nursery. Test Valley Borough and Hampshire County Councils have created this problem; we hope they will now take urgent action to deal with it.”