FAMILIES living near the Cotswold District Council offices in Cirencester have said that they should have been consulted over the decision to make the council’s car park free at weekends.

The council announced earlier this month that it would allow free parking at its car park in Trinity Road at weekends until May, as improvements at the Forum car park in the town centre have temporarily reduced the number of spaces available.

The CDC offices are based in the heart of a busy residential area and people living nearby have questioned why the council did not ask them first about the new trial parking scheme.

There are also concerns that if the car park is full, drivers will park on the street or in residents’ private spaces.

“We’ve got three children here so having cars go in and out all the time is not ideal,” said one resident, who asked not to be named.

“People already park in our private parking space. If we’ve been doing a big shop at Tesco then we have no choice but to just park behind them.

“I have not got massive issues because we chose to live here but the council did not consult us, they just told us they were doing it. If they had consulted us that would have been nice.”

Every weekend from now until May, cars will be able to freely use the 140 spaces at the council’s headquarters.

Another resident, who lives just past the council offices, said the new trial scheme did not bother her.

“I think the busiest time is during the week because people park here to walk to work. It’s been really busy in the car parks in town because of the work at St James’s Place.

“I don’t think this scheme makes such a big difference,” she said.

Staff at wealth management firm St James’s Place have had to park elsewhere in the town recently as major works have started on the company’s own car park.

Cirencester town councillor Jenny Hincks said she understood residents’ concerns.

“It was reported in press releases issued by the council that there was sufficient capacity in other town centre car parks to accommodate the extra cars displaced by the updating of the Forum site,” she said. “However people do not want to pay the cost of parking.”

“Residents and visitors will of course seize the opportunity to get free car parking at CDC offices. When it is full, people will try to park on the streets around Trinity Road rather then pay the excessive car parking charges.”