A CALL will be made to look at installing more bollards near a new training centre following a horror crash earlier this month.

Worcester City Council’s planning committee approved the council’s own application to build a new ‘Building Block’ centre at the Green Hub in Gresham Road, Dines Green to provide training for a range of trades and skills.

The move will result in the loss of several parking spaces to the community centre’s car park which concerned St John’s councillor Richard Udall and led to him calling for more protection for people and businesses in Dines Green who he said are fearing a repeat of a horror crash earlier this month.

“All I am going to say is there was an accident there earlier this month,” he said at the planning meeting in the Guildhall on Thursday (September 21). "And there was a bollard there that saved lives.

"It’s incredibly important.

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“I support what the proposals are going to do and what they are going to deliver but I’ve got concerns about its location and its appearance,” Cllr Udall said “My biggest concern is parking.”

Cllr Udall said assessments were carried out in August “when the car park was at its least busy” and he said parking at the Green Centre was “regularly full and overflowing.”

“Losing eight spaces does give me concern,” he said.

Earlier this month, Cllr Udall called for a one-way system and 20-mile-per-hour speed limit to be enforced in Dines Green as a “matter of urgency” following a horror crash which saw a car smash into bollards outside the Co-Op supermarket in Gresham Road – mere metres away from the Green Centre – and narrowly avoiding a group of youngsters.

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A 15-year-old and an 18-year-old were later arrested in connection with the crash.

Eyewitnesses said the crash “sounded like an earthquake” and it was “lucky nobody died.”
Highways officers at Worcestershire County Council said they were “content” with the plan and had asked the city council for more information about parking – and assessments during busier months – before giving the application their blessing.

“We are content that there is not going to be an issue and there will not be overflow parking,” Karen Hanchett from the highways department said.

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Cllr Udall said it was “vital for the community” for the council to install more bollards in Gresham Road to prevent overspill parking and protect shops from vehicles.

Cllr Udall said he would not vote against the plan over the bollards but wanted to use the opportunity to try and secure improvements.

The new skills centre would be run by Worcester Community Trust and will be offering courses in literacy and IT, customer service training as well as bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing and green trades such as solar and heat pump installation engineers.