WEST Somerset Council has given assurances that all staff will be parking off-site when work gets underway in earnest on the authority's new £2.9 million offices in Killick Way, Williton. Parking spaces have been at a premium all week since more than half of the car parking spaces were cordoned off to allow preliminary work to be carried out. Stacey Beaumont, the council's media and public relations officer, confirmed that not all staff were yet parking off-site. She said those who were still using public car parking spaces would be asked not to park in Killick Way once work began on the "second phase" of the building project. Just two weeks ago, the council appealed for help to find more alternative parking areas for the authority's staff. However, an offer by district councillor and Williton businessman David Gliddon for parking for up to 60 cars on two different sites within the village is known to have been declined by the authority. Ms Beaumont said: "The council was unable to accept a local councillor's offer of parking as the county highways officer raised concerns about the main site. "West Somerset Council has always acknowledged that building the offices in the public's preferred site, Killick Way, would cause some disruption. "To minimise this, the first phase of off-site parking started this week. "Remaining staff will be requested to park off-site prior to the full implementation of the second phase which will see all officers allocated dedicated off-site parking." She said members of the public were "welcome" to park in the area which had previously been reserved for the sole use of staff and councillors. She also confirmed the authority had sold 15 parking permits for specific use in the Killick Way car park less than a month ago, but said that a permit was no guarantee of a parking space. "In some instances, refunds on parking permits are given although it will depend on the reason and each request will be judged on its own merit," Ms Beaumont said. Just 51 parking spaces will be available in Killick Way throughout the building work, which could potentially take 13 months to complete. A report due to go before Monday's cabinet meeting said that although the contract with the builders was due to end in May 2008, the authority was hopeful the offices would be occupied before that date.
