Date not provided
I was excited to hear about the plans for the town centre during the consultation period and I attended many meetings and drop in sessions and fed back when asked. However, the plans submitted go far beyond what was suggested and it has become more focused on housing than on improving the town centre which is what the development should be about. the original project was for 75 new residential units which has been gradually increased to its final figure of 327 flats which is a huge change from the original plans. If all units are fully occupied this could mean 880 tenants in a small town centre with nowhere near enough parking to support that number of cars alongside the high use of the main car park which at peak times is already full. The current accessibility of the car park with the Parking pass incentive from HBPC brings locals into the town everyday and it is often full to capacity during the summer months when tourism is high. I note that currently we have 431 spaces where only 266 are included in the proposals and given the number of properties that will require parking this is unacceptable. Some land may have been purchased to attempt to deal with this but it is not part of this proposal and is still not as convenient as it currently is. We do not live in an area with the type of transport links that mean cars can be used less as trains are unreliable and infrequent as our buses. The monthly rental costs that they are proposing are above current average prices in the town and so income is not guaranteed. Before this goes ahead 1 - planning permission should be sought and secured for additional parking behind the train station. 2- the exisiting car park should be maintained throughout the building work 3 - phasing the works should begin with the west end which includes two decks of parking and an access ramp. 4- construction of the final 110 block flat 4 should be conditional after review of viability once other elements are in place,.
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