Tesco cuts car parking plans - every little helps (From Essex County Standard)

Tesco cuts car parking plans - every little helps

6:00pm Thursday 10th May 2012 in Local news By Wendy Brading

TESCO has reduced the number of parking spaces at a proposed shop, but residents are still concerned about an increase in traffic it will attract.

Residents complained about the 188-space car park planned for a store in Butt Road, Colchester, claiming it will generate too much extra traffic. But Tesco is cutting the number of spaces by 17, to 171 to accommodate housing.

The shop, on the former garrison land, will have a sales area of 1,328 sq m, along with 14 affordable homes, if it wins planning permission.

Louise Gosling, Tesco’s regional corporate affairs manager, said: “In order to accommodate some improvements to the design of the new housing we are providing on the site, we have reduced the number of spaces to 171.

“We believe this number of parking spaces will still be sufficient in preventing any overspill on to the surrounding residential roads at really busy times, such as Christmas.

“This change has enabled us to lower the height of the houses by removing the undercroft residents’ parking spaces and providing them behind the houses instead.” The residents of Errington Road had written a letter of objection to Colchester Council over the car parking plans.

A total of 28 residents, including celebrity TV gardener Sven Wombwell, claimed the traffic would aggravate the existing parking problem on the residential street.

Campaigner Bill Hayton, a writer, of Errington Road, Colchester, said: “It is a gesture, albeit not a significant one.

“We still have concerns over the traffic that will be generated and we will be expressing these to the council.

“We really need a 20mph speed restriction for Errington Road and parallel streets, which will become a rat run if the store opens.”