An attempt to prevent the council selling off two car parks has failed and the councillors behind it told to get their "act together”.

A call-in by Tory councillors to reverse a previous Medway Council cabinet decision to sell the Union Place car park in Chatham and Temple Street car park in Strood has been voted down.

Those responsible were told they needed to have real reasons and not “nonsense” for opposing the local authority’s plan.

The two car parks, totalling 122 spaces, were agreed to be sold at a Cabinet meeting back in December after they were determined to be surplus to requirement.

However, six Tory councillors asked for the move to be looked at again and "called in" the decision.

This meant the decision had to be debated and could be referred back to cabinet with recommendations at the regeneration, culture, and environment overview and scrutiny committee held last Tuesday (January 23).

They said the council had not considered all possible options for the two sites, such as adding a new access point to the Union Place car park to make it viable, and said the sites had not been sold before because offers were too low and with the decision by cabinet they were bound to be lower.

Tory leader Cllr Adrian Gulvin said: “When I was the portfolio holder for resources, the offer for the Union Place car park was derisory.

“What you’ve done now, by saying you’re desperate to get rid of it, they’re going to come back with an even lower sum - you’re lucky if you get £100 for it!

“You’ve got to at least explore the opportunity of keeping it a car park, then you’ve got a bargaining chip. With this decision you’ve basically thrown that away.”

However, the attempt to send the decision back for reconsideration was scuppered as the Labour group majority voted to accept the decision and make no changes, with councillors saying those behind the call-in had no serious reason for their opposition.

Speaking in relation to the Temple Street car park, Cllr Stephen Hubbard (Lab) said the proposal was a continuation of an idea from the previous administration who was in negotiation with the nearby Tesco about the site.

He said: “The idea here is the same as in the Strood Town Centre Masterplan you published in 2019 for Tesco to relocate a store with a car park that is available to customers but also people using the High Street.

“It hasn’t changed. If you produce the Strood Town Centre Masterplan, please read it.”

He also called the suggestion of a new entrance to the Union Place car park a “nonsense” suggestion as officers said work would be too costly and significantly reduce the number of parking spaces available.

He continued: “A third of Union Place car park would have to disappear, it’s not viable.

“It's complete nonsense and you guys have got to get your act together.

“If you’re going to be a real opposition, come up with something that really is in opposition, not this nonsense you’ve produced tonight.”

The Union Place car park in Chatham had become inaccessible after permission to use a private road to access it was withdrawn by the owners.

Members also decided the Commercial Road car park was capable of meeting demand in Strood and so the car park on Temple Street could be sold.

Both were to be opportunities for redevelopment in their respective areas.

Tory councillors also cited concerns from local businesses about the sale of the two sites, but when Cllr Paula Hamilton (Lab) asked officers how many businesses had contacted the council with concerns about the sale of the car parks officers said none had done so.

Officers also said that the car parks would not be sold at any price and, as had previously been the case, offers that were too low would be rejected and only those deemed to be of good value to the council would be accepted.

The committee took a vote on whether to accept the council’s decision, which was supported by the eight Labour members and one independent and opposed by the five Conservative members, meaning the decision was approved.