Lack of parking 'may well finish us off'

A business owner has warned a lack of parking included in a major housing development "may well finish us off".

Gloucester's only residential tower block, Clapham Court, is set to be demolished in the next six months s and replaced with 34 new homes.

The scheme, developed by Gloucester City Homes (GCH), will provide 21 parking spaces, with other residents in Alvin Street currently sharing 10 roadside spaces.

Phil Wiggall, from Garden Machinery, said: "Our customers cannot park. I live here and I cannot park."

Wiggall said he had "no objections to the overall scheme" but does not agree with the amount of parking that has been allocated.

"When these 34 dwellings are built they will be dishing out 68 lovely parking permits for people to apply to park on a road that has no parking spaces left. Alvin street is extremely congested at the best of times," he said.

"My business pays a huge fee to have a business permit which half of the time I can't use as there are no spaces.

"Roots Community Hub has already gone - they were constantly battling parking problems. [The] butchers has already gone, they were battling parking problems. It's just us and the hairdressers left."

Residents have also raised concerns about potential disruption when the 11-storey building is demolished.

Sara Hobbs lives in Alvin Street and runs the local neighbourhood watch.

"The actual building process itself, I'm sure will be pretty horrific. We're imagining it's going to be very dusty and lots of building works.

"We haven't been told exactly what's going to happen at the moment. We're just coping with the traffic situation, which is very bad."

Huntley Thawe said he hoped the work can be carried out "without making any mess" and "interrupting local residents".

"Make sure no dust goes anywhere within anybody's windows or apartments, for health and safety reasons," he said.

"It'll be very interesting how they're going to tap into the local waste and water without interrupting anybody else with their supplies."

In a statement GCH said it appreciated some residents have concerns about parking.

"The level of parking provision was carefully considered as part of the planning process and forms part of an approved scheme that balances the need for parking with the need to deliver new homes," the statement said.

"While parking is a challenge in many urban areas, the redevelopment of Clapham Court will provide 34 much-needed homes, replacing the former tower block and including dedicated parking and cycle storage for residents.

"We will seek to minimise any disruption to them during the demolition process.

"As we have not yet appointed a contractor, it is too early to share detailed plans about how this will be put in place, but we will continue to engage with residents before the works start."

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