Traders and residents win battle to stop parking spaces becoming part of private garden
Traders and residents have won their battle to stop two car parking spaces becoming part of a private garden in Cannock.
A Bideford Way resident was hoping to buy the council-owned land in a bid to reduce antisocial behaviour outside his house.
The two parking spaces are part of a car park used by customers visiting nearby shops and there were concerns that their loss would affect business. Cannock Chase Council received 23 letters of objection in response to the application to change the use of the two parking spaces to residential garden.
County councillor Paul Snape spoke against the proposals at a district council planning committee meeting on Wednesday.
He said: “The bays outside the shops have recently been repainted and one additional disabled bay has been added to assist those with disabilities. This necessitated one ordinary bay being lost, as disabled bays are the width of two ordinary bays, and we can now not afford to lose additional parking spaces in this area.
“The chemist in Bideford Way is one of the most used in the district and people travel from great distances to use it. Should sufficient parking spaces not be available then people in need of prescriptions might find alternatives.
“Should this happen, the chemist could lose business and then become unviable and close. The same can be said for the other high quality stores in this little block of shops.”
The application also sought permission to extend a side boundary wall next to the car park for the property, which was previously a doctors surgery before being converted for residential use. Councillor Snape said the applicant would have known the size of the garden at the time of purchase.
Applicant Eamon O’Shaughnessy told the committee the fence was currently just 30cm from his lounge window and he wanted to move it to reduce the effects of antisocial behaviour and not because of the garden size. He also questioned the level of use of the car park.
He said: “We moved into the property in June 2019 and we knew it had been a doctors’ surgery. I approached the council in March 2022 to enquire about purchasing the two car park spaces and the scrubland and I was told I had to apply for planning permission.
“There has been drug dealing, smoking and loud music. I have had people climbing onto the wall and looking into my property.
“Flytipping remains an issue and I have picked up numerous bottles, food waste and drug paraphernalia. The scrubland has never been maintained by the council since we have been here.”
Councillor officers recommended the application for refusal on the grounds “loss of parking provision (would) be detrimental to the overall functionality of the wider shopping parade that the car park serves”. Committee members voted to reject the application at Wednesday’s meeting.
Councillor Val Jones said: “While I have sympathy with (the applicant) I don’t think moving the boundary wall will solve the problem. I think this needs to be taken up by police.”
