A 112-space car park at Manea station in Cambridgeshire is to open on August 7 – well over a year late.
Local councillor Charlie Marks said the opening date had been confirmed by the transport and development manager of Fenland District Council, who will run the car park.
Cllr Marks confirmed that “unless there are unforeseen circumstances the car park gates will open at 5.30am on Monday the 7th of August”
Sunday 26 March 2023.
Picture by Terry Harris.
He said the car park has been almost 20 years in the planning and building and has been held up on numerous occasions due to unforeseen issues.
“But finally, Manea will have a free, well lit, CCTV monitored off street park for rail users using our station,” he said.
“Many people have been involved in this project which will continue to help Manea prosper but has not cost Manea any money.”
He explained that the need for a park had long been identified and it then took time to find the site and the money to build it.
Station Car Park, Manea
Sunday 26 March 2023.
Picture by Terry Harris.
“Approximately four years ago the previous combined authority Mayor Palmer at a meeting I attended at FDC banged the table and told officers it needed sorting asap,” he said.
“Things then moved at pace, land purchase, planning, design, and build.
Station Car Park, Manea
Sunday 26 March 2023.
Picture by Terry Harris.
“There were hold ups due to Covid and then supply issues as most build projects had during Covid.
“The delay was made worse by issues with the CCTV and its signal receiver at March police station.”
He added: “Anyway after all this hopefully a week on Monday morning all this will be history and Manea station will have safe off-street parking and lead to more stopping trains too.”.
A turf cutting ceremony on 21st September 2021 marked the commencement of works, and was attended by representatives of Danaher & Walsh, Fenland District Council, and project managers Pell Frischmann.
The company announced it was carrying out the scheme on behalf of Fenland District Council “following a competitive tender”.
Station Car Park, Manea
Sunday 26 March 2023.
Picture by Terry Harris.
The car park has been built on land north of the station, accessed from Fodder Fen Road.
It provides a cycle shelter, CCTV, low-energy lighting, and improved drainage infrastructure. Bird and bat nest boxes will be installed in the area.
Plans to create new car parks at Manea and Whittlesea railway stations were among the raft of improvements for Fenland stations being delivered through Fenland District Council’s Railway Station Masterplans scheme, funded by £9.5 million from the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.
Both stations have already seen the installation of new platform waiting shelters through the Combined Authority funding and Section 106 contributions, with platform extensions among the other improvements in the pipeline.
The station improvements were “signed off” by then Mayor James Palmer of the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.
“We’ve put in a lot of money to make rail a more attractive and user-friendly option, with improved facilities across the Fenland stations,” he said at the time.
“The car and cycle parking we’ve funded will help get ‘long haul’ commuters off the roads and into the trains, but I shan’t stop pushing for the reliable and frequent services that will give rail travel the big boost it needs to coax people on board”.
Originally the car park at Manea was promised for completion last April.
