THE LEADER of Gloucestershire County Council has admitted mistakes were made over its handling of Dursley's Castle Street Car Park.

Cllr Barry Dare (Conservative, Moreton-in-Marsh) told the Gazette that plans to develop the site into flats earlier this year were against the spirit of the Gloucestershire Charter - a document meant to ensure co-operation between the county council and smaller bodies.

He says county councillors will work closely with their counterparts in Dursley to prevent this from ever happening again.

Cllr Dare said: "I think that, to begin with, the county council didn't do a good enough job of talking to Dursley Town Council. The idea of the Gloucestershire Charter is to improve relationships between different branches of local government in the county and in this case it doesn't seem to have worked.

"Last week the county council met with the town council and Dursley's local county councillors to discuss the issue of the car park and we have also agreed that nothing will happen until Vale Vision has had a chance to look at the issue.

"It is important to be clear about the future of the land. The County Council acquired it to build a new Dursley library - that library has now been built elsewhere. The land is now surplus to our requirements.

"If Dursley Town Council or the district council wanted to buy the land, we would be happy to look at ways we might be able to help them do so."

Dursley town councillor Geoff Wheeler said the county council has promised to work with Vale Vision in producing a town design, a project set to last for six months.

He said: "The Gloucestershire Charter failed its first test in Dursley but the county council assured us it won't happen again.

"They have postponed any work until Vale Vision has completed its town design, which is excellent news."