Town centre revamp approved despite parking concern

Concerns about parking and nightlife have been raised by councillors as they approved plans to revamp part of a town centre.

Property developer Sorbon Estates was given the green light to transform a building in Peascod Street, Windsor, during a Windsor and Ascot development management committee on Thursday.

The building currently houses outlets of Superdrug and Wenzell's the bakers, but under the plans it will get three new shops and a cafe, as well as 21 serviced holiday apartments.

But councillor David Buckley was among those questioning the parking availability as he said there was already a "massive shortfall of car parking in Windsor".

Councillor Alison Carpenter also said during the meeting that, as developers expect guests to stay for several weeks, the guests are also likely to need cars.

She said: "I do worry about where they'll be able to park their cars because they won't be able to afford to park in Windsor for two weeks."

Meanwhile, councillor Carole Da Costa asked why developers hadn't provided a disabled parking space for apartment guests, adding the nearest car park was an eight minute walk away.

She said: "I for one as a disabled person cannot walk eight minutes, what provision is being made for anyone that has poor mobility?"

Council planning officer Nick Westlake said that the Royal Borough's highways department had considered the plans and not objected to the lack of parking.

He also noted there are 1,557 parking spaces in six car parks in the area, and that visitors would mostly need spaces overnight, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He acknowledged that the lack of disabled spaces was a shortcoming, but he said that planning law councillors would have to decide whether they felt this was "sufficiently harmful" to outweigh the benefits of the development and refuse permission.

Other councillors went on to raise fears that the flats would lead to noise complaints against bars and clubs on Goswell Hill behind the development.

Councillor Mark Wilson said it was important to protect Windsor's nightlife as it is a "really important spot for bringing young people and driving that nighttime economy in Windsor".

She said: "How can we guarantee that there aren't going to be a flurry of complaints about noise at 02:00 GMT on a Friday when actually that's entirely reasonable because this is the centre of town?"

However an independent impact assessment found that levels of noise would be acceptable at night.

Mr Westlake said national planning policy says existing businesses "should not have unreasonable restrictions placed on them as a result of development permitted after they were established".

Despite the concerns, councillors also said the development would be an improvement to Peascod Street and Goswell Hill.

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