A new apartment block is set to be built on a car park in Beeston town centre after councillors approved the plans despite concerns over parking.
Developer Willmark Ltd submitted plans to Broxtowe Borough Council in February for eight one-bedroom apartments off Portland Street.
The paved site sits behind 1A to 1D Willoughby Street and is currently used for informal parking. It is located between an office block and Beeston Oasis Christian Centre.
The scheme was approved by Broxtowe Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday 10 June, with nine councillors voting in favour and four against.
The apartment block will be built across three floors, with three flats on the ground floor, three on the first floor and two on the second.
Original plans included two parking spaces, but revised proposals removed on-site parking altogether.
Councillors raised concerns about the impact on surrounding streets, where nearby terraced homes have limited or no off-street parking.
Several other town centre schemes have previously been approved with little or no parking, including nine houses in multiple occupation in Wollaton Road, eight apartments in Vernon Avenue and 15 flats with two maisonettes in Villa Street.
Speaking during the meeting, Councillor David K Watts asked whether the council would eventually reach a point where it said Beeston town centre had reached capacity for developments without parking.
Ryan Dawson, director of planning and economic development at the council, said there may come a point where the balance tips, but added that demand and development trends were currently being shaped more by market conditions than planning policy.
Councillor Gabrielle Bunn, who called the application in for committee scrutiny, said previous approvals did not mean the latest scheme was acceptable.
She said: “The fact that we’ve been allowing this before doesn’t make it acceptable. It’s something we keep raising at planning committee.”
Councillor Steve Carr said Beeston’s public transport links were strong for journeys east and west, including towards Toton, Long Eaton and Nottingham city centre, but less effective for travel north and beyond.
He said: “We have this tendency to say ‘oh people won’t want to bring cars’, but the reality is that they do bring cars.
“I just wonder whether we should be taking a bit of a stand now… where we need to say ‘really? Do we really want to build more and more houses without car parking spaces?’”
Councillor Philip Owen said the committee should not be afraid to refuse applications because of previous appeal decisions.
He said that because the flats were not intended as student accommodation, future residents were more likely to want cars.
He added that the scheme would move parking problems elsewhere because residents would not be able to park on site.
Other councillors supported the development.
Councillor Lydia Ball described the land as “scruffy” and said it was suitable for housing.
She said there was a car park nearby and added that she had noticed homes opposite the site where no cars appeared to be parked outside.
Councillor Peter Bales said that if the plans were refused, the site would remain unused and another developer could return with proposals for student accommodation.
The committee was told that, under planning policy, applications should only be refused on highway grounds if the impact would be “severe”.
Nottinghamshire County Council, as the highway authority, raised no objection to the plans over the lack of parking.
The application was approved by nine votes to four.
