Bereaved father left devastated after council closes Peterborough car park to prevent memorial event for his son

A father has been left devastated after the city council closed a car park over plans to hold a memorial event for his son.

Ernie Martin had planned to host a memorial event to mark two years since the passing of his son Cain (19) in a car crash along New Cut, Thorney in November 2020 at Pleasure Fair Meadow Car Park on Oundle Road.

Mr Martin insists that he had consulted the council about his plans for around 50 cars, driven by Cain’s friends and family, to attend to let off fireworks to remember Cain before convoying down to the site of the crash on the B1167.

He says that he is unhappy with the response of the council, which ended in the authority taking the decision to close the car park on Sunday evening from around 5pm.

"I was devastated” he explained.

“It’s just another kick in the teeth. There’s not many ways for a father to give back to the friends of my son who have done so much since his passing and raised the money to pay for his funeral.

"I spoke to the council months before and I wanted them to come onboard. I tried really hard to jump through all the hoops. We even agreed to switch from fireworks to balloons with LED lights in them.

I tried to get liability insurance as requested, only to be later told by the same council that it wouldn’t have been accepted without the permission of the landowner- which is them.

"I feel the way they acted was so unprofessional and shows that they don’t care. Just a polite phone call could have solved all of this. I would have been disappointed but would have got on with things.”

Since Cain’s death, Mr Martin has campaigned strongly for road safety- which has led to the council reducing the speed limit along New Cut to 50mph as well as leveling out some of the road’s bumpy surface.

He has also founded a foundation in Cain’s name to raise money for charities such as Magpas, East of England Ambulance Service and Brake, which support victims of incidents on the roads.

The event was eventually held on Sunday night at the nearby public car park outside the Key Theatre.

Peterborough City Council is currently putting together measures to crackdown on car cruising events and has approved plans to add the car park to the Woodston Public Space Protection Order (PSPO)

The event in question was not a car cruise but still appears to have fallen foul of the crackdown.

A spokesperson said: "While we have sympathy with Mr Martin and Cain's friends and family and understand why they wanted to go ahead with this event, we advised that this event did not take place.

"We have received numerous noise complaints from nearby residents about car meet events in Pleasure Fair Meadow car park over the past 12 months. We were also concerned about the use of fireworks, the proximity to the train lines and concerns for people's safety.

"We voiced these concerns to the organisers, however, we were advised that the event was still taking place and so made the decision to close the car park."