Residents concerns about Town Centre over -development

Local residents, concerned about over development in Beverley Town Centre, have objected to a planning application to convert a Tiger Lane office building into five residential apartments, amid fears that the extra cars created by the apartments will add to residential parking chaos in the surrounding streets.

The building, which is located behind St Mary’s Court, is the subject of a planning application which has been opposed by Beverley Town Council and Beverley Civic Society. Now, local residents have taken their case to their Ward Councillor, Denis Healy, who has requested that the application is considered by the Council’s Eastern Area Planning Committee due to the public interest in the decision and its potential impact on the town centre.

Councillor Healy said:

“I am very concerned about the potential impact of this development on the town centre residential neighbourhood. The proposed car park for the development is currently used by people working in the shops in St Mary’s Court, and each weekday morning it is full by 9am with up to 8 cars, most of them blocking each other in.

The nearest residents’ parking is at the junction of Tiger Lane and Pasture Terrace, and this is usually full with the cars of residents from Tiger Lane, Pasture Terrace and Willow Grove, as well as the short term parking of visitors.

We have a huge problem in this part of town with non residents parking on the surrounding streets either in the Controlled Parking Zone on Pasture Terrace or further along on the Westwood Way development. The proposal for five residential apartments will generate up to 10 further cars, and as they are only proposing two extra parking spaces it’s clear that the parking problems would only get worse.

Tiger Lane is a single lane carriageway with double yellow lines on both sides. The entrance onto North Bar Within is very narrow with bollards to protect the historic buildings from damage. It is inaccessible to anything but small cars, and pedestrians use the road to walk into town.

If this planning application for further residential accommodation is granted, the existing parking and traffic problems will be made dramatically worse, and we need to think about the needs of our town centre residents first.

I have therefore requested that this application is decided by the Eastern Area Planning Committee, and I urge my fellow Councillors to listen to residents and reject this application.”

In a letter to one of the residents who raised the issue with him, the local MP, Graham Stuart said:

“I am pleased to see that Councillor Healy has not only registered his own objection to the application as it stands, but has asked that the application be brought before the Planning Committee for further discussion.”