TRADERS in New Quay have issued a last minute plea to planners as they prepare to decide on plans to build new homes on a car park.

Housing association Barcud is seeking permission from Ceredigion County Council for scheme to build 30 homes at Central Car Park, Towyn Road and the plans are recommended for approval when they go before councillors on Wednesday, 12 March.

More than 40 businesses in the town say the development will see the number of car parking spaces reduced from 315 to just 91, a 71 per cent reduction.

The New Quay Traders Association has written to planners, saying: “The negative effects of losing 224 public parking spaces will be profound for both locals and traders.

“At present, the car park accommodates not only tourists in peak season but also residents (many of whom do not have off street parking) and local employees who rely on the car park, as well as parents and their offspring attending the local primary school where there is no parking provision.

“With a 71% reduction in capacity, these users will be forced to compete for a handful of remaining spaces or spill over into nearby streets and private areas. This raises genuine highway safety and congestion concerns as drivers circulate in search of parking.

“More ominously, it raises economic concerns as fewer convenient parking spots means fewer visitors stopping in the town.

“The New Quay Traders Association has gathered testimony from numerous business owners that lack of parking already strains trade on busy days, and that was before any spaces were removed. If the majority of the car park is built over, many visitors will simply find nowhere to park and will turn away to other destinations. The local Chamber of Commerce projects a significant drop in visitor numbers on peak days if this development proceeds, translating to a sharp decline in takings for cafes, shops, pubs, restaurants, ice cream parlours, excursion boat operators, and so on.

“In other words, New Quay risks gaining a reputation as an inconvenient place to visit, a reputational damage that could be hard to reverse.

“This would be a tragic outcome for a town that has worked hard to build its tourism profile.”

The proposal includes 10 one-bed flats, six two-bed flats, 10 two-bed semi-detached houses and four three-bed semis, but has faced a number of objections from local residents and businesses.

New Quay Town Council has also objected to the proposals, raising concerns including the loss of parking spaces and its impact on the tourism industry, a lack of public transport in the town to cater for additional residents, and also questioned the demand for one-bed units in the town.

The scheme saw 29 objections raising issues including the impact of the development on tourism and the local economy through the loss of parking provision, questions about who would reside in the units, social housing not needed and inappropriate for the town, and the impact on local services.

In a report for planners, the county’s Senior Housing Officer said the greatest demand for housing in Ceredigion is for one-bed properties, with 245 in the Aberaeron ‘region,’ and “over 1,900 in the county,” with the intention to apply a local lettings policy, which prioritises the applicants from the immediate area.

The application has been recommended for approval, with a final decision set to be made by the council’s development management committee on Wednesday, 12 March.