Plans to turn a piazza outside a theatre into a car park are set to be approved next week.
Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the square outside the Sue Townsend Theatre – formerly Phoenix Arts Centre – in Newarke Street could provide 22 spaces for cars.
Sir Peter said they would replace some of the 50 spaces lost to the £4 million development of Jubilee Square, in St Nicholas Circle.
Officers have recommended the mayor's plan be approved by the planning committee when it meets on Wednesday.
This is despite nearly 40 letters of objection to the plan from arts groups and individuals.
They said the area should be preserved as a space for performances, that a car park would be unattractive and that the adjacent multi-storey car park was rarely full.
Margaret Scott, of Humberstone, said: "Another car park, more cars to pollute the city.
"And what an insult to the memory of Sue Townsend, to suggest the grimness of a car park in front of a centre bearing her name.
"It's worthy of a place in Adrian Mole's diary, alongside Ms Townsend's inspired naming of one of the new blocks of flats Rat Wharf.
"I trust that the city council will see, if nothing else, the risk for national ridicule involved in giving itself permission to pursue this perverse idea."
Julian Wright, from arts group Nearest Star, said: "There is already a multi-storey car park next to the theatre and another parking area at the back.
"Is this a lack of joined-up thinking or just a lack of thinking?
"It is certainly a lack of consultation.
"Every aspect of the future of the Sue Townsend Theatre, including its immediate surroundings, must be discussed fully with Leicester's artists before such foolish piecemeal tinkerings are undertaken.
"For the sake of a dozen or so parking spaces, let's save the piazza and all it could provide."
Leicester Civic Society said the provision of a car park next to a multi-storey that was rarely full was "totally unnecessary".
Chairman Stuart Bailey said: "The mayor announced the renaming and it is therefore obvious this space becomes Sue Townsend Square and is used for public performances.
"It is now proposed to hide the theatre behind a car park."
Sir Peter defended the plan, saying he could not remember the last time a performance was held outside the theatre.
He said: "In honesty, that area is grubby and has been neglected for 10 years.
"It will be resurfaced to improve its appearance.
"You just can't win. I am criticised for taking away parking spaces, then criticised for providing new ones.
"What we will have is a useful car park which can be a flexible space.
"If there is a chance to hold a performance, it would be very easy to close it off by putting bollards across the entrance."
