£2.6m to repair car park left untouched for two years before it partially collapsed

A SUM of £2.6million allocated to repair Mansfield’s Walkden Street car park in 2023 was not touched before part of the top floor of the structure collapsed in August.

- By JOSEPH CONNOLLY Local democracy reporter

Mansfield’s Labour portfolio holder for corporate and finance, Councillor Craig Whitby, confirmed the pot of money had been sitting ready to use for more than two years.

But the Labour councillor said he could not answer any other questions due to an ongoing legal wrangle with Tesco - which leased the car park from the council.

At a full Mansfield District Council meeting on Tuesday, November 25, Conservative councillor Liz Langrick asked Councillor Whitby for an update on the situation.

She initially asked: “Why did it take until 2023 for a full structural survey of Walkden Street Car Park to be undertaken when the need for concrete repairs was identified as far back as 2015?

“A total of £2.35m was then spent in the re-cladding project between 2018 and 2023, which also highlighted structural issues, yet it took until late 2023 for a full structural survey to be actually undertaken.