PLANS to tear down some vacant garages in favour of four new homes has sparked fears about “displaced parking”.

Red Kite Community Housing has submitted to Bucks Council a planning application for “a garage court”, on Marefield Road, in Marlow.

Plans detail the ‘demolition of the existing garages and erection of a pair of semi-detached properties, with associated access and landscaping’.

Nine parking spaces are proposed.

Bucks Free Press:

PICTURED: The Marefield Road site. 

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But Cllr Neil Marshall called in the application over “displaced parking”.

“The displaced parking is completely unacceptable in this highly pressurised area,” he said.

Marlow Town Council objected on similar grounds.

Some 16 letters of objection were also received.

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However, the highways authority said the loss of garages “would be unlikely to result in a loss of parking and displace vehicles onto the adjacent highway”.

Bucks Free Press:

PICTURED: The garages from above.

The site “has been closed since March 2020 and the garages have all been vacant since this time”, according to council documents.

But it was also revealed “someone has unlawfully removed the padlock from the site gate and left the site unsecured”, documents state.

“We have had some contractors using the site as a compound while completing work on nearby properties, the site has not been open for general use by the public.

“No residents have a right to park on the site as the site is entirely owned by Red Kite and garages were let under a licence which specifically did not give any right to park on the site.”

It adds: “These licences have all been terminated.”

"The gate is now padlocked and I can confirm that the padlock is in place and the site is secure," a Red Kite spokesman added.

“The principle of development is considered acceptable given the location of the site and given it is previously developed land,” according to council documents.

The matter will be discussed during a West Buckinghamshire Area Planning Committee, on June 29.

The recommendation is for approval.

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