Hood St is not good for parking

Car parks, or the lack of spaces, may be the end of the long-standing city fixture, David's Emporium, on Hood St.

Concerned building owner David Lloyd is not impressed with the parking situation.

After the re-design of Hood St around six years ago the number of car parks decreased from 46 to 28.

At the time, Mr Lloyd was in discussion with the council and voiced his opposition to the idea. In a letter to the council, dated January 22, 2007, Mr Lloyd states:

"The emporium will probably survive but with a down turn.

"The death-knell will probably ring out for the wine shop and hot roast meat shop as their customers need handy parking and not as far away as the car park building."

This fate has ultimately proven true for the wine shop which relocated from Hood St two years ago.

The 28 car parks available on Hood St are not enough, says Mr Lloyd.

"People do not park in the car park building to buy a bottle of wine or get a takeaway meal.

"The emporium has been suffering because of it," he says.

"Customers complain about the parking and apologise that they will most likely not return.

"The street looks great, but hey, the customers are not there," he says.

David's Emporium business owners Neil Roach and Vanessa Lloyd are looking to review their options when their lease expires in May next year.

Mr Roach says they are on the lookout for somewhere with more car parks. "The council hasn't done us any favours by taking car parks away," he says.