I am encouraged that WSCC has agreed to keep the car park open until the end of January 2023. This extra time is to allow several organisations who are negotiating with the land owner to secure the long-term future of the car park. The next nearest carpark is 5 miles away if the car park was to close it would mean a large part of the community would lose access to this stunning area of the Downs. My inbox has been inundated with concerns about its possible closure and a petition has over 4,000 signatures, the community has been clear on their desire to keep this Kithurst open.
On Saturday I visited the car park with Andrew Griffith MP, who has advocated keeping Kithurst open having written and spoken to many of the organisations involved in the negotiations. I am working closely with them to ensure that they come to an agreement quickly to give confidence to the community that this vital connection to the downs is kept open for the long term. There is still time for the Southdowns National Park Authority, who so far have rebuffed attempts to keep the car park open, to work with the community to meet its mandate for delivering accessability to the downs and would encourage them to get in touch if they would like to do so.
