SEACOURT park-and-ride is set to almost double in size after Oxford City Council unveiled plans for a 600-space expansion.

Initial reports in October suggested the council wanted to create up to 300 parking spaces at the Botley Road site, but yesterday it said plans would see twice that number built.

The plan has been backed by city council leader Bob Price after an Environment Agency report said 600 new spaces would not make the area more likely to flood.

It is hoped work on the £1.6m project to make Seacourt the largest park-and-ride in the city will start in the next financial year, which begins in April.

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A 600-space expansion would increase Seacourt’s capacity to about 1,400 cars, 150 more than Redbridge, currently the biggest in Oxford.

Mr Price said: “We have been talking to the EA because there is a significant flood risk in that area and that was a consideration when we first announced the 300-space expansion.

“Now that has been completed and they have said we could make it work for the larger site and not have a problem.”

Mr Price said parking charges would not be raised to pay for the project in the next financial year but could not rule out future increases.

He said: “We regard park-and-ride capacity as particularly important because the prospects for the city are good for retail, so we need to make sure there is sufficient parking to keep up with that.

“It is important that people are able to come in by car.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Georgina Shacklegreen

Work to increase capacity at Seacourt would be the second major park-and-ride expansion in Oxford in the past two years.

In January 2013, 500 extra spaces were created at Thornhill, in Headington.

Yesterday motorists at Seacourt said they would welcome the expansion.

Manufacturing technician Brett Nicholls, from Banbury, said he used Seacourt once a week to attend an appointment in Oxford.

The 42-year-old said: “I would welcome an expansion.

“I think it would be a good thing because the park-and-ride is often at capacity when I get here.”

Student Georgina Shacklegreen, 23, from Wiltshire, who has used the park-and-ride to visit a friend in Oxford, said: “It seems pretty sensible to expand it. It would be a good idea.”

The council has not yet applied for planning permission for the site, but Mr Price said plans were likely to include an access road directly off the A34, which cut out having to use the Botley interchange.

This would provide easier access to the park-and-ride.

Labour city councillor for Osney, Susanna Pressel, said the expansion could cut congestion on Botley Road.

She said: “Adding 600 spaces rather than 300 is much better.

“It would be lovely to have as many spaces as possible to tackle congestion on Botley Road.

 

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