Open letter to residents from councillors: Thank you for your letters regarding the proposed housing development at Barton Road car park in Ely.

I can assure you that your concerns were listened to and, in this letter, I aim to answer as many of your questions as possible.

Firstly, if planning permission is granted, upon completion of the development, there will be at least the 192 free public car parking spaces that are currently available, with the aim to increase this number to 205. In order to do this, the long stay coach parking at Barton Road will be removed, car parking allocation around the site would be re-configured to make use of the adjacent depot land, and an area leased to a private company would be released.

A short term drop off and pick up point (15 minutes maximum stay) will be established within the Barton Road car park, and it is expected that King’s School and residents from surrounding villages could use this, having been recognised as a vital local collection point.

The existing coach drop off points in the Gallery (again with a 15 minute maximum stay time) would continue to be accessible, while others would be identified and created in the city centre to increase visitor footfall.

As this would be the subject of a highways consultation, the Town Centres Team (which includes the cathedral, museum, traders, ECDC town centres and tourism), businesses in the vicinity, the market team and the city council would all be involved to find the best solution to achieve the best outcome with minimum disruption to traffic flow.

For parking, coaches would be able to use the lay-by on Cambridge Road. The council also recognises that secure coach parking on the outskirts of the city is vital to the long term success of attracting organised groups to visit Ely, therefore sites will be investigated, with potential locations being sought.

The consultation period on this matter has been extended to Friday January 22.

CLLRS RICHARD HOBBS AND LIS EVERY

Chairman and vice chairman

Commercial Services