Transport trouble for clubs and societies
Imperial College Union clubs, societies and other groups rely heavily upon the Union’s minibus fleet for transport. Under College proposals, the majority of the minibuses will be relocated to Wilson House in Paddington
Imperial College Union clubs and societies face transport difficulties next year as the number of parking spaces available for minibuses is cut.
The College currently has 342 parking spaces on its South Kensington campus. 98 of those will be unavailable while Southside is being redeveloped, so all departments and faculties are having their number of spaces cut by around one third. However, the Union faces a much greater reduction, from ten spaces to just four.
The Union currently owns nine minibuses that are based in South Kensington, behind Linstead Hall. With the demolition of Southside, five of those will be moved to Wilson House in Paddington. Dan Lehmann, the Union’s Transport Manager, claims that this will “add nearly two hours to the trip” and hence “severely restrict student activity”.
Mr Lehmann also said: “All equipment is based in South Kensington, as are 98% of minibus users, so leaving from Wilson House is totally impractical.” He explained that many drivers are female and it would be dangerous for them to have to walk back to South Kensington at night.
Diana Pinn, Assistant Director of Estates, told Felix: “Everybody is unhappy about the car parking. We have a limited number of spaces and we just can’t fit everybody in. I sympathise with the Union’s predicament, but in discussions we’ve had, I have not heard them make one concession. The Union has grown its number of vans over the years without any authority, I’m told.”
Miss Pinn added: “We’ve got a breathing space until November [when the Southside spaces are lost] to try to sort this out.”
Mustafa Arif, President of Imperial College Union, said he was “confident of resolving the issue by November”.
