THE state of Quay Street Car Park on the banks of the River Teifi is a disgrace to Cardigan, according to the town’s mayor-elect.

Cllr Olwen Davies, who takes over the chains of office from Cllr Sian Maehrlein later this month, has launched a scathing attack on the main town centre car park where tidal flooding often catches out unwary motorists.

“There’s plenty of signage there, but it’s such a messy place,” she told colleagues. “Bits of it are sinking and railings are falling into the river – it’s getting to be a health and safety issue and a threat to the general public.”

Cllr Davies was reacting to a letter from local resident Jane Roach who had asked the council to support her call for a review of flood alleviation and the town economy for the area of Quay Street and Netpool.

Mrs Roach, who said her plea was prompted by rising river levels, identified the car park as a prime source of revenue for the local authority.

“This situation urgently needs to be reviewed,” she added, “and funding made available from community projects to move this forward.”

However, Cllr Davies disclosed that although county councillor Elaine Davies was pursuing the matter, she had struggled to gain a response from Ceredigion County Council officers.

“That car park is a disgrace to the town and I would support any action to improve it,” she said. “Motorists should be made aware of when it’s going to flood, but all our requests for better signage seem to fall on deaf ears.”

Cllr Philippa Noble revealed she had recently gone to the assistance of a distressed visitor who returned to the car park to find her vehicle stranded.

“Yes, there is signage saying it does flood, but what she didn’t realise was that it was tidal,” she added. “We need better signage and all the car park to be usable.”

Cllr Richard Davies called on Ceredigion County Council to ‘step up to the plate’ and carry out urgent repairs and maintenance.

“There are issues in that car park all year round,” he said. “At the end of the day Ceredigion are getting revenue off it so surely the onus is on them to maintain what they have?”

This observation prompted Cllr Noble to comment: “As they’re quite happy to push parking charges up to ridiculous levels they should be prepared to keep their car parks repaired.”

Cllr Catrin Miles said they fully understood Mrs Roach’s frustration.

It was agreed to write a letter to County Hall, identifying broken fencing and an uneven wall as health and safety issues, while also pointing out the local authority received ‘substantial’ income from the car park.