Nottingham councillors say more signs will be needed to stop drivers blocking a tram route outside the site of a newly-approved Volvo car showroom.
Marshall Motor Group Ltd and March Property Developments will be building the new Volvo showroom, featuring a workshop, offices and an MOT bay, in Enterprise Way.
The vacant site sits next to Speedo and Experian’s headquarters, and the road is shared by the NET tram network lines.
Nottingham City Council’s planning committee gave the proposals the green light on July 19, but councillors advised that more signs are put up to stop drivers blocking trams.
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“I think signage does need to be extensive,” Cllr Sam Harris (Lab) said.
“It was only last week there was a car stuck on the tram bridge and I think that, with the increase in traffic flow there, especially people travelling from outside the city to visit and to purchase new cars potentially, and test drive cars, there would need to be extensive signage there.
“Maybe even reassurance from the management of the site that could be reiterated to customers inside the site.”
Marshall Motor Group already operates a Volvo showroom out of a building in Valley Road, Basford, but the group says the business has “outgrown the premises”.
The new glass-fronted building would have enough space for five vehicles on display, while the workshop would cater for roughly seven vehicles at a time.
The on-site car park would feature 220 spaces.
A Jaguar Land Rover dealership is located nearby, alongside a Mercedes showroom, and the site currently sits vacant as designated brownfield land.
Between 30 and 40 jobs are expected to be created, with all existing jobs in Basford being transferred to the new showroom.
A council officer also said a primary concern of the plans had been with car transporters blocking tram tracks as they arrived to deliver vehicles.
However the developer submitted information relating to how the transporters would access the site, and the officer said they had been “satisfied” by what they had been told.
Marshall Motor Group added: “It will provide an attractive building sympathetic to the surrounds and makes use of a brownfield site in a prominent location within the city.”
• Nottingham Trams: Car stuck on tram track delays services
