Car park set to be lost to new business units
A LARGE public car park in Burton town centre could be ripped up and turned into business units.
The car park next to the former Burton Mail offices, in High Street, could see its spaces concreted over and a single-storey steel structure built in its place to house five small business units.
The car park had been run by East Staffordshire Borough Council, but was handed back to the landowner Viv Watts, who has made the application to transform the space.
Mr Watts said at its height, the car park would bring in around £13,000 every quarter, but in the last quarter of 2019, pre-covid, made less than £1,000.
He said: “The car park has declined to virtually zero. This is due to many businesses moving out of that area.
“When we bought it the council used to operate it. When we saw the historic data and the number of cars which used it, in the usual quarter it would make £13,000, but in the last quarter in 2019 before covid it made less than £1,000. That is a 90 per cent drop.
“We realised that current business had been moving and there wasn’t the demand for the car park.”
Mr Watts is also behind the recently approved plans to turn the former Burton Mail offices next door into commercial space.
He said: “When people were looking at the offices we found there was so much demand for start-up businesses who are working online and wanted somewhere to store their items but did not want a large warehouse.”
He has now applied to the borough council to build a detached steel one-storey structure which will be split into five units for commercial, business and service uses.
A report submitted by JMI Planning alongside the application said: “As there is good public and private parking provision in the immediate area it the land could be better used for commercial development owing to its sustainable location within the town centre and local infrastructure linking to the strategic road network.
“In order to further attract investors into the Burton area it is important that a variety of highquality employment land can come forward to provide a premises for a variety of employment sectors. The proposal would help to actively deliver such space thus contributing to the economic success of the borough.”
The report added that the chosen materials for the unit will help “reinforce the industrial character of the town” which features steel units and utilitarian buildings associated with the existing and former breweries located in the town.
It added that the building will be much smaller in height compared to the neighbouring three storey properties fronting High Street.