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Flooding in the car park in February
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Loddon Bridge Park & Ride closure costs taxpayer £15K

December 09, 2009

Stircter flood prevention rules have lost Wokingham and Reading taxpayers more than £15,000 in revenue from the Winnersh Triangle park and ride.

The Loddon Bridge Park and Ride, which runs a bus service from Showcase Cinema to Reading, re-opened this morning after it closed on Monday last week following flood warnings from the Environment Agency on the River Loddon.

Wokingham and Reading borough councils, which operate the service jointly, make around £1,700 a day from ticket sales for the park and ride.

Up until February this year, the ‘flood watch’ warning issued by the Environment Agency last Monday, November 30, would not have led the park and ride at Loddon Bridge to close.

However after nearly 100 cars were damaged by flooding at the car park in February following heavy snowfall and rain that caused the River Loddon to burst its banks, the council decided to tighten up its policy on flood prevention.

It now automatically closes the park and ride when the agency issues a ‘flood watch’ warning.

The council was forced to pay around £500,000 to car owners whose vehicles were damaged or written off in February’s floods.

On Saturday, the council encouraged drivers to use free parking in Wokingham town centre, which the council offers each year on Saturdays in the run up to Christmas.

The car park was re-opened after the Environment Agency removed its flood watch for the River Loddon and water levels had receded.

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The coucnil didn't pay out £500K last year - it was all insured and the insurance company paid out because the council didn't get proper warning from the Environment Agency. Now not surprsingly everyone is over-reacting as we live in world where "risk management" is top of the agenda. Sad thing is the Council do not "make" any amoney out of this car park or anything else for that matter. They just get less income which means they have to make that up from Council Tax Payers.

John from Woodley
11/12/2009 at 20:45

15k is by far a lot easier than 500K

The Racing Snake
09/12/2009 at 19:34

I'd rather them lose £15K than my car get wrecked because they thought they'd risk it when the flood watch was in place.

Mrs Jones, Woodley
09/12/2009 at 16:50

They are not allowed to build flood defences anyway - the only way that the environment agency were countenance the building of showcase was on the proviso that the car park was at the same level as the original flood plain as otherwise you just shift the flood waters to colemansmore road, the meer and everywhere else downstream like Twyford

Reading Biker, Reading
09/12/2009 at 14:31

£15k is only 3% of the amount of compensation they paid out last year when it flooded. If you spent the equivalant on flood defences, you wouldn't get much for it. £15k loss therefore seems the best value for money solution for now to me. There is another park and ride at Madjeski that sits on a big hill, although it isn't very useful when there is a match on. You could park in Wokingham town centre for free and get the train in, though I don't think that is what was intended by making the parking free :)

mavdo, Wokingham
09/12/2009 at 12:33

Im not overly sure i understand the benefit of: "On Saturday, the council encouraged drivers to use free parking in Wokingham town centre, which the council offers each year on Saturdays in the run up to Christmas." Why would i want to travel into Wokingham and park my car for Free when i want to travel into Reading???