Newmarket town councillors raise concerns over town centre flats plan car parking

Town councillors have again raised concerns about the lack of residential parking in Newmarket town centre.

Members of the authority’s development and planning meeting on Monday were discussing a proposal to convert the first, second and attic floors above Unico restaurant, in the town’s High Street, into six two-bedroom and two one-bedroom flats, but with no parking provision for future residents.

“My concern over this application is once again the issue of parking,” said Cllr Robert Nobbs.

“We have a huge issue with parking and you can’t keep having more and more housing with no parking. At some point you have to say enough is enough because these type of conversions have a culmulative impact on the town centre as a whole and you end up with people parking all over the place, on pavements and wherever they can find a space.”

Deputy mayor John Harvey and Cllr Sue Perry had been on a site visit to the listed building which was once Ashfords, later Palmers department store, before it became Hughes Electrical and more recently an Italian restaurant.

“It was really sad to see it in such a state,” said Cllr Harvey, who told the committee he remembered it as part of the department store when the upper floors had housed a café and a hairdressing salon.

“The building is in a really poor state of repair and it really needs something doing with it,” he said, but he added: “Parking is a problem in the town. When we object Suffolk County Council will come back and say there is public transport. At least we can be consistent in raising objections on that basis.”

Cllr Nobbs said: “Developers are just determined to cram in as much as they can and it is us who are having to cope with the fall out.”

The council has consistently raised concerns about parking provision linked to other applications to convert space above retail premises into living accommodation including in Old Station Road at the former All Square Flooring site, at Rutland Chambers and at the former Wiggs jewellers.

The county highways authority’s response to the latest Unico proposal was: “There is no off-road vehicle parking proposed for this development. However, as the proposal is located in an urban area where there is good provision of public transport we would allow a relaxation of parking standards.”

Councillors agreed that while the building was in need of removation they objected to the flats plan as there was no parking or provision for bin storage.