Exmouth to get new free-to-use car park

Works to create a brand new free-to-use Exmouth car park will begin on Monday, 21 June.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) will be creating the 12-space parking area in Phear Park.

The authority will also be resurfacing the area’s access road, from Withycombe Road to the Rifle and Pistol Club.

The access road has been in a deteriorating condition for several years, requiring regular pothole repair. It is hoped the resurfacing works will help to reduced ongoing maintenance costs.

The new parking area will be built on the grass verge near to the vehicle entrance of Phear Park, providing a further dozen parking bays and a dedicated area for manoeuvring.

Although a parking area is currently provided at the far end of the access road, there have been historic issues with vehicles parking on the pavement near the entrance of the park.

This has prevented other vehicles from passing, as well as restricting the width of the pavement available to pedestrians and causing damage to the footways, grass verges and tree roots when manoeuvring.

It is hoped the new car park will help to reduce the issues.

As well as this, EDDC will also be installing steel reinforced recycled plastic posts as parking prevention measures on the footway edge between the park entrance and shelter to further prevent anti-social parking.

The works will take place in four consecutive phases, starting on Monday 21 June.

Phase 1 is the construction of the new parking area, which is anticipated to take approximately two and half weeks and to be completed by Wednesday 7 July.

The access road will remain open throughout this phase of the works, and businesses within the park will be unaffected.

Phase 2 is the resurfacing of the far end of the access road and existing parking area, while Phase 3 is resurfacing the rest of the access road and Phase 4 construction of the speedhumps.

Phases 2-4, starting on Wednesday 5 July, are expected to last eight working days and therefore should be complete by Friday 16 July, weather permitting.

During these phases, it will be necessary to close the access road to all public transport and during Phase 2 of the Works, the public toilets and other buildings adjacent to the access road will be inaccessible. There will therefore temporarily be no public toilets available within Phear Park during this period and further notification will be provided via social media.

Sustainability of materials and construction methods used has been key throughout design of this project. The access road will be resurfaced using a type of asphalt referred to as ‘warm mix’ which is manufactured at a temperature up to 35°C lower than conventional asphalt through incorporation of a micro-foaming process.

This lower production temperature also produces safer working conditions for those laying it, due to the reduction in volatile fumes. The product selected offers carbon reductions of up to 50 per cent compared to conventional asphalt, and also uses 5 per cent recycled aggregates, reducing the carbon impact associated with quarrying aggregates for construction.

The new parking area will be constructed from a permeable cellular concrete system, often known as ‘grasscrete’.

The use of this lower carbon material is in line with the council’s Climate Change Action Plan, which aims to make the council and its activities carbon neutral by 2040.

EDDC’s Engineering Department who will oversee the works, will continue to use more sustainable materials within their projects and have taken measures, such as including compulsory carbon reduction questions within tenders, in order to ensure future works are more environmentally friendly.  

Councillor Geoff Jung, EDDC’s Portfolio Holder Coast, Country and Environment said: "There have long been issues with vehicles parking on the footway in Phear Park, making access difficult for pedestrians and vehicles.

"The 12 additional spaces provided in the new parking area should go some to way alleviating this and will utilise an underused area of the park. It is good to see officers making every effort to reduce the environmental impact of construction where possible through use of modern and recycled materials, contributing to the council’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2040."

Email engineers@eastdevon.gov.uk for more information or follow EDDC’s via social media.