Bradford Council leader demands action over 'unacceptable' city centre car park
The leader of Bradford Council has written to the organisation that regulates car parks over the “simply unacceptable” scenes inside a city centre car park.
Councillor Stephen Place said the Council is taking “urgent enforcement action” to make sure the Southgate car park, off Thornton Road, is cleaned “as soon as possible.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported on the awful state of the multi storey car park on Friday morning.
On Wednesday, following a tip off, we found human excrement on a stairway, multiple nitrous oxide canisters, half eaten food, soiled clothes and litter strewn across the inside of the building.
The same excrement remained when we last visited on Friday afternoon, along with the same puddles of yellow liquid, numerous boots, food containers and a horrific stench.
It is one of the nearest car parks to the new Bradford Live venue, which is due to host a World Cup watch party on Saturday evening, as well as numerous high profile concerts in the coming weeks.
The car park was taken over by Ocean Parking last month. At the time of the takeover, the company posted in LinkedIn: “Same car park, different operator, delivered quickly, with minimal disruption, and a clear focus on customer experience.”
Ocean Parking did not respond to the initial story, and when we visited on Friday it was clear no one from the company had been to carry out any sort of clean up.
Bradford BID chair Jonny Noble had written to Bradford Council’s Environmental Health team about the state of the car park, saying it gave an awful first impression of the city.
The Council has now commented on the issue.
In a statement to the LDRS Bradford Council Leader Stephen Place said: “This is simply unacceptable.
“We have taken urgent enforcement action to ensure the site is cleaned as soon as possible, and I have also written to the car park operator, and their regulator, to raise this matter and set out the need for the site to be maintained and cared for properly.
“We need everyone across the District, whether private sector or not, to help make sure Bradford is a welcoming place for residents and visitors alike.”
Earlier this month the public square in front of the car park entrance was the scene of an unusual fly tipping incident, where a huge mound of mouldy bread was dumped in the street.