A CAR park in Southbourne that was earmarked for development is set to have new ticket machines installed.

Bournemouth council has considered developing part of Woodside Road car park into flats, leaving 50-60 spaces available out of 85.

However, the plans were set aside following a petition from Southbourne-on-Sea Business Association that gathered hundreds of signatures.

Gary Powell, head of traffic management, said a decision on the future of the car park had been deferred until spring 2019 at the earliest “so that we can better understand demand for car parking in the area.”

“In order to do so, we are hoping to replace the old ticket machine in the car park in early 2018, assuming funding can be made available. We would then want to analyse the data from the new, intelligent machine over the peak summer and Christmas periods before reaching an informed view on patterns of usage,” he said.

A petition against the closure of one of Southbourne’s other car parks gathered more than 1,000 signatures.

Earlier this year, Bournemouth cabinet members agreed to close Southbourne Crossroads car park and put the site up for sale.

The council said the 78-space car park operated at a loss.

However, Southbourne resident Francis Owtram wants the council to re-consider its decision to sell the car park, which he maintains is an “important resource” for local residents and businesses.