Many Sutton residents use the public car parks in Ely when out shopping, socialising, or when visiting the city for leisure or other pursuits.

It’s therefore of interest that the council has submitted a planning application to itself (and yes, it is allowed to do that) to use part of the Barton Road car park to develop 11 residential properties.  The advertised deadline for comments on this application is 4 January, but I understand through the press that the council has now extended this to 22 January – though it might be worth checking with the council directly to confirm this if you do want to express a view and think you might not make it by the initial deadline.

I’m not a member of the Planning Committee, and as I’ve been involved with discussing the general principles of this development on other committees, I won’t be part of any consideration of this planning application as I don’t think I would be perceived as coming to it with an open mind.  (I hope other councillors who have been part of these discussions as I have will follow my lead on this).  Unlike members of the Planning Committee, I’m therefore allowed to say what I think!

There are several issues which I believe the council needs to resolve.

Car parking: there’s a contradiction in various parts of the application paperwork.  Some parts say there will be 18 spaces provided as part of the new housing development of 11 dwellings, but another part says 17.  Some of these will be enclosed spaces in garages under town houses.  The current provision on that part of the car park site is 45 spaces, so there will be a net loss of 27 or 28 spaces.  However, it’s also suggested that the remainder of the site, not included in this application, could be reconfigured to provide replacement spaces so that spaces are not lost overall – though it’s not clear whether the 17-18 spaces for the development (which won’t be available to the general public, presumably) are being counted in the new total or not.  I’d want to be sure that the number of public car parking spaces remained at least the same.

(And what would happen if the current application were granted, but any later plans to increase parking on the rest of the site were not?).

Coach parking: it’s suggested that replacement coach parking will be made available elsewhere in the city centre, and I believe Market Street is being suggested.  However, it’s not clear that the highways authority, the emergency services or anyone else has been consulted on any detailed alternative, and it might also require an amendment to existing traffic regulation orders.  Market Street is already very congested with buses, taxis, delivery vehicles, cars using the dropping-off spaces etc.  What would happen if no alternative coach parking site could be found in the city centre that would meet with the approval of the highways authority and the other interested bodies?

There are other issues, including the risk of creating an anti-social behaviour magnet zone in the car park which would be screened from view from the road; and also the current use of the public car park by King’s School parents to pick up their children after school.

Personally I’m not opposed in principle to reasonable development of part of this site, but only provided that we can be guaranteed no loss of public car parking space, and suitable alternative coach parking arrangements.  It seems to me that the council may be in danger of rushing headlong into a planning application for the housing development, without having adequately advanced the necessary arrangements for everything else that follows.

As usual, full details of the application are online on the district council’s planning page: the reference number for the application is 15/01417/F3M.  If you would like to respond formally to the council about the application, any comments should be addressed to the district council and not to me.  Comments may be made

• Online using the council’s public access webpage (the link above);
• By email to plservices@eastcambs.gov.uk;
• Or by post to the Planning Department, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE.

Of course, if you would also like to express your views to me as your local councillor, I’d be happy to hear from you.