PULLING down what was one of the Duchy’s most used multi-storey car parks is “the sensible thing to do” according to Cornwall Council’s member for transport.

The upper storeys of Truro’s Moorfield car park were closed following an engineering inspection in May 2024 with only the ground floor and outside area remaining open.

The loss of over 400 spaces in the 680-space facility off Calenick Street has exacerbated parking problems in the city following the closure of other car parks to make way for the stalled Pydar development.

This week we asked Cllr Dan Rogerson, the council’s Liberal Democrat portfolio holder for transport, what the authority’s plans were for the car park. He told us: “It obviously costs money to take Moorfield down but we’re looking at that, so at least we would have a bigger surface car park there in the medium term. It’s the sensible thing to do.

“It’s not going to fall on cars that are underneath it, but you can’t put the weight on the top anymore, so the sensible thing to do is to take it down which will have a cost to it - so we’d have to get that in the capital programme, then it will release more car parking there.

“Following that, obviously if there are more innovative things they want to do on that site which include car parking with stuff above it, that’s fine – that’s a longer-term thing, but we’ve got Pydar to do first. But it’s important we get as much parking on the Moorfield site as we can.”

Alun Jones, manager of Truro BID (the business improvement district which supports traders in the city) responded: “Regarding Moorfield car park, we recognise that this is going to be an expensive fix, whether that is to demolish and ideally rebuild a replacement car park.

“However, we would urge Cornwall Council to update the business community and public on a regular basis in order to maintain confidence that Truro has adequate car parking capacity. Ideally, any planned activity regarding this car park would be put into action sooner rather than later.”

He reminded shoppers that Moorfield still has over 200 parking spaces available .

Following last year’s closure of the upper decks, a council spokesperson said: “Safety is paramount and our aim has been to keep the car park open for as long as possible while it has been safe to do so. Any decision that affects the capacity of the car park is not taken lightly and so this needs to be based on robust evidence.

“Built in the 1970s, like similar structures across the country, the car park is reaching the end of its design life. Specialist structural advice has been sought and the frequency of inspections increased recently.

“As the structure has reached the end of its design life and design standards have changed since the car park was built, it is unlikely remedial works to extend its life indefinitely would be possible and financially viable. The decision to close the upper floors was based on the latest inspection.”