Plan to fill car park with shops is backed (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Plan to fill car park with shops is backed

12:10pm Thursday 15th December 2005 in News

WILTSHIRE County Council has supported a plan to build shops on the central car park in Devizes, despite acknowledging that a loss of parking will hit the town's retail viability.

Yesterday's meeting of the county's environmental advisory panel agreed to support Kennet District Council's preferred option, proposed up by its town planning consultant Gillespies, to build two large retail units and five smaller ones on the area that currently offers pay-and-display parking.

A report from George Batten, director of environmental services, said: "The rural nature of Devizes means that a high proportion of shoppers are dependent on the car as their sole means of transport.

"The proposed loss of car parking could have a significant impact on its attraction as a retail centre."

Mr Batten's report takes issue with Gillespies' contention that Devizes is over-provided with both on and off-street car parking spaces.

He said: "It is clear from a parking study undertaken for the county council in 2000 that demand for spaces exceeded capacity on market days.

"The car parking survey undertaken by Gillespies as part of their study is not considered to be a reliable indicator of current trends."

Mr Batten said that underground parking at the central car park, which has been suggested to replace 50 spaces that are going to be lost when the car park is developed, would be very expensive and could have significant implications for archaeology.

Mr Batten suggests instead that residential development at Station Road car park, said to be essential to subsidise the retail development at the central car park, should be kept to the minimum in order to save as many long-term parking spaces as possible.