Fears new flats plan would exacerbate parking problems
COUNCILLOR JOINS RESIDENTS IN BID TO FIGHT PROPOSAL
FAMILIES and traders have hit out at plans to build three flats in a Derby street already struggling with parking issues.
A proposal has been submitted by Raj Suddhi for three one-bedroom flats on land behind the Markeaton Pharmacy on Kedleston Road, next to houses in Bromley Street.
Currently, the 95 square metre space is used by staff members at the pharmacy as a car park, and while no car parking spaces have been proposed as part of the development, this would not prevent on-street parking.
The site has already been the subject of two refused applications, in 2008 and 2018.
Mike Woods, a nearby resident, said: “I wouldn’t say I’m massively supportive of it. My biggest worry is about parking, because it is already incredibly busy.
“With three new flats comes at least three new cars that will be added. The Highways department, on the planning application, approved it on the condition that there is cycle storage, but it’s not realistic to think someone could live in Derby without a car.
“It will also overlook the neighbours’ gardens and block out a lot of light. Last time [2018], people led a local campaign against the application.
“They seem to have gone to some effort to address the concerns from the last application, like thinking about character, but it is the three-storey thing for me and it’s like they have done it to show that they are addressing the concerns without thinking of what the true impact will be. It is just a box-ticking exercise.”
In a design statement submitted as part of the application, the applicants said that they had considered various issues raised when the previous application was rejected.
These included impact on light, and concerns over the building not being in keeping with the Edwardian style of the Six Streets area.
The applicants said: “The opportunity presented by the site is to provide valuable accommodation in a highly sustainable location, adjacent local amenities, within easy walking distance close to the city centre and on the regular bus route of Kedleston Road.
“The only dwelling likely to be affected by this development is 4 Bromley Street to the north of the application site.
“The effects of the development on this dwelling will be very limited, with shadow cast on a small area of the garden at 5pm during mid-summer, by no means overshadowing the garden as a whole and no more than would be expected on a terraced street of this nature.”
Since the application was submitted it has attracted nine comments of objection and none in support, at the time of writing.
The council’s Highways department said its only recommendation was to ensure that, should the application be approved, a condition was put in place requiring cycle storage to be created.
But Councillor Martin Repton, Derby City Council representative for Darley, said: “I must object in the strongest possible terms, as I believe this new build proposal containing three flats is completely out of keeping with the surrounding Edwardian terraced housing in the Six Streets area and goes against the grain.
“It is out of keeping, over-massing and would lead to overlooking. It would create additional vehicle movements and additional parking problems in an already congested area. For all these reasons and more, I urge rejection.”
You can see more about the application on the Derby City Council planning portal, using the reference number 22/01169/FUL.