Plans to replace Hunstanton's Oasis Leisure Centre raise parking fears

There are fears a brand new facility could increase parking problems in the town

Author: Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporting ServicePublished 30th Sep 2022

Plans to replace the Oasis leisure centre in Hunstanton with a new facility have raised fears over the impact on parking.

West Norfolk Borough Council is submitting a bid for £19.8m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund, which it hopes will help pay for the £28.8m project.

The authority has not yet decided where to build the new leisure centre, but has said the town’s Southend Car Park is the preferred option.

At a Monday cabinet meeting, independent councillor Chris Morley said he feared that using that location would have a “serious impact” on parking in the town.

Richard Blunt, the authority’s Conservative cabinet member for finance, agreed that the scheme is “a very big project that needs to be considered very carefully, across the whole of west Norfolk”.

The council’s Conservative deputy leader Graham Middleton agreed that if the car park is used, “we need to jump quite quickly on to understanding a wider car parking strategy for the town”.

The cabinet agreed to work with Hunstanton Town Council to look more closely at what would be the best site for the new centre.

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