Does Tesco owe Lanark a public car park?

That was the question behind a comment left on the Gazette’s Facebook page recently in response to another car park story.

Following an attempt by the council to “grab” public car parking spaces in Bernard’s Wynd, one Facebook follower commented: “We need to claim back the parking spaces that Tesco used when building the store.

“Apparently the agreement was that the spaces would be returned via the car park, with NO time restriction on parking.”

South Lanarkshire Council then denied that there had been any such agreement, but one Gazette reporter who is a bit of a hoarder produced the original Tesco planning application – and it was being mooted then.

Back in 1998 Tesco was applying for outline planning permission at what it now its Gallowhill site.

At that time the area included the site of the former skin works, and a public car park, running behind the sheriff court, along Greenside Lane on land owned by the council.

For more on this story pick up a copy of this week’s Lanark Gazette which is in the shops now.