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Secret West Hoe car park that time and Plymouth forgot
A ‘secret’ West Hoe car park that time forgot is back open to the public after being leased by the council to a private firm. Once a spot plagued by antisocial behaviour and used by prostitues to find clients, the car park later closed and for years sat empty, frozen in time.
It quickly became a car park that time, and Plymouth, forgot. A time capsule, tucked behind houses that only a handful of local residents knew about. Hidden away on a back lane off Pier Street, the top floor of the car park is private and used by local homeowners. But a secret basement floor is now back open for public use.
The future of the land looked uncertain when PlymouthLive reported on the car park in late 2021. The big slab of abandoned concrete sat unused and unloved, with rusting, old signs and a sinister feel about it.
Former PlymouthLive reporter, Eve Watson, wanting to find out more about the car park and its history, went on a little walk around the area to find out more…
After knocking on a few doors with little success, she bumped into a lady walking her dog. The local woman told Eve she hadn’t really noticed the car park before.
“I come down here sometimes,” she said. “But to be honest, I haven’t really given much thought to it. It’s just a bit random really.”
Random is definitely one word for it. A shopping trolley sat sadly in the corner of the car park, and a few bits of fence were also strewn across the ground.
(Image: Eve Watson)So why was the car park abandoned? The car park was owned by Plymouth City Council up until reportedly the late 90s to early 2000s. According to a Plymouth Herald story in 2008, the council put it up for sale. There was dispute at the time over what the land was used for, and whether residents nearby had been consulted.
“Only the council can answer the question of whether it needs the land for a new school, perhaps, or for transport needs,” Mr Seneviratne, head of asset management at the council at the time said. And Councillor Tudor Evans, leader of the Labour group, said he was concerned the council’s new Market Recovery Plan, put into place to deal with the economic downturn, made it less likely the land would be used for social housing.
(Image: Eve Watson)Back in 1998, another Herald story reported how residents in West Hoe had been calling for the night-time closure of the Grand Parade car park which they claimed had become a haunt for city prostitutes. They were fed up with cars racing through Pier Street, Central Road and Northumberland Terrace and local women – some of them elderly – being propositioned by kerb-crawlers looking for sex.
At the time, Cynthia Prynn, of the Port O’ Call in West Hoe and area Neighbourhood Watch founder, said: “Cars go screeching around and along Walker Terrace at about 1 o’clock in the morning. Some people have been stopped in the street, even elderly ladies, and asked “How much?” We just want this to stop. We have had a problem with prostitutes in the area for at least 16 years but it seems to have got worse recently. We are trying to do things to cut down the number of burglaries and reduce crime around here but the prostitution just attracts people we do not want.”
Mystery remained as to whether the site was bought, and if so, who by. But to this day, it is still in the hands of the council, who lease the top floor to local residents, and have since leased the bottom floor to Premier Parking Solutions.
Plymouth City Council is the owner of the freehold interest in the Grand Parade Lane car park the ground floor level previously having been operated as a public short term pay and display car park but is currently closed.
The raised upper level is let out on a long leasehold interest for parking as part of the adjacent residential development. No income has been generated in the last three financial years.
There are no formal arrangements for persons to park in the ground floor level. A small number (approximately twelve) PCC members of staff (Grade J and below) have access to the open ground floor area to facilitate site visits and as a measure to discourage anti-social behaviour at the closed site.
(Image: Eve Watson)In 2021, a council spoksperson said: “Due to the availability of on street parking there are currently no plans to formally reinstate the lower level as a public car park.”
The land was listed on Movehut, a commercial property website, but was later removed.
(Image: Eve Watson)However, two years later, the car park is back open to the public, after PPS took it on in November 2021. A council spokesperson confirmed: “The upper level is still leased to local residents. The lower level has been leased to a parking operator as a public car park.”
(Image: Google Maps)Did you know about this secret car park in West Hoe?
(Image: Google Maps)
