Cllr Mamie Simmons and I met today with a manager from the company which owns/manages the Arnison Centre.

We have had a number of concerns going back to last year over various issues at the centre and were pleased that someone from London was willing to come up to discuss these issues.

Briefly, we raised issues about:

1. The state of the road and carpark surface within the site, including the dreadful bumps in the road near McDonalds, which have been reported for over 6 months.

2. The problems with access to the Mercia site near Pets at Home where almost everyone ends up driving over the edge of the kerb. Also about the lack of safe crossings from the KFC side to the Pets side.

3. Litter on the path down to the underpass and the fact it is rarely tidied, and the wider failure to keep the whole site and the tree line around it in a litter free condition. In recent weeks it has looked appalling.

4. We also raised concerns about the layout and state of the car park from Marks and Spencer right across to Sainsbury’s where landscaping is poor in places. The surface of the car park is in need of renewal, but the car park layout itself near M&S/Boots is bizarre. Many residents are not happy with the lack of a safe way through the parking area near M&S with their trollies.

5. We further raised general concerns about the capacity of the car park to cope especially given the expected new pod set to be built. New 4 hour parking has been introduced from this week which was a previous request from previous planning consents. This is aimed at cutting the number of staff using the public car park instead of their parking spaces at the back of the units  – which we have previously also pointed out are not sufficient. A private company will monitor the parking going forward throughout the site.

We are pushing forcefully for changes to make sure that the site does not grind to a halt, and that parking and the access and egress is made easier.

6. Discussion about the current planning application for a change of use on the new pods which we have concerns about in terms of the potential for additional takeaways and the resultant littering issues. We can’t justify any more A5 full takeaway licenses on this site.

7. Probably the most important immediate concern however is the lack of proper crossing points within the site. I have been asking for many many months for the crossing near the new units to be upgraded and have to say that I remain very unhappy that these units have opened without safe, working crossings.

When I raised similar concerns with Sainsbury’s before Christmas about their car park – it took a while for action, but the result has been excellent. All the crossings in the Sainsbury’s car park have now been upgraded with new posts, lights and solar panels. Well done Sainsbury’s!

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The chats with the Arnison centre official were constructive and we feel that many if not all of our concerns inside the site will now be addressed. That said, I will continue to chase up on the crossings as I feel it is absolutely critical they are improved before someone is injured and more than 6 months is far far too long to have to wait for action.

We are holding further talks in the coming weeks about the site by which time we hope there will be a timetable for all of these issues to be addressed and expect other possible proposals will be discussed.