Town centre's Citipark Sutton 'to be sold for redevelopment'

CitiPark has issued a 12-month break notice for Sutton Car Park, on the corner of Estcourt Road and the ring road, as it says it is the worst performing location it operates in the town.

The site has been operated under a lease from Watford Borough Council, which has not had any interest from other operators and does not consider itself able to manage the car park in-house.

CitiPark Sutton has 481 spaces including 22 disabled spacesover six levels. (Image: Google Street View) Expensive subsidies would be needed to keep the car park open and therefore council officers are recommending it should be sold off instead. This would allow “further exploration of redevelopment to a use more beneficial to the future vitality of the town”.

The idea has been put forward for a vote at Monday’s (November 25) council cabinet meeting.

Cabinet member Kennedy Rodrigues said: “The decision for the current operator to vacate highlights the low usage of the site, with the car park operating at only 30 per cent capacity on average.

“An independent analysis confirmed there is sufficient capacity in nearby car parks – including spaces for disabled users – to ensure local needs are met.

“Selling Sutton Road Car Park will strengthen the council’s financial position and support our ambitious plans for Watford, while protecting valued local services and better meet the community’s evolving needs.”

The council has apparently already received an offer above the valuation it gave the asset itself and so councillors will be voting on whether to conclude that sale.

Even if they do vote to sell, the car park is not expected to close in the short term despite Citipark’s lease ending next year.

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Council officers expect that the new owner will retain the car park in operation while they assess it and come up with plans for how to use it.

The assessment that there would be enough parking in the town centre without Sutton Car Park is based on figures from car park analysis carried out by specialists Systra in 2023 and 2024.

Discussions about relocating current contract parking users at Sutton Car Park to other Watford car parks are ongoing.