Delighted Gerrards Cross residents are celebrating after plans to build a controversial “cheese grater” car park have been withdrawn.

A proposal to build a new 450-space multi-storey car park in Station Road was met with criticism from furious residents who feared the work would make the street “dark, unpleasant and unfriendly”.

The application by Balfour Beatty was due to be considered by South Bucks District Council (SBDC) on September 6, and came after SBDC carried out a capacity study, which bosses said identified a need for increased car parking facilities in the town.

The council’s report found that the car park would meet a projected shortfall in short stay parking up to the year 2053.

Amended plans were submitted earlier this month – with one resident claiming the string of objections from those who live nearby had been “ignored”.

Resident Keith Edwards is now celebrating, saying it has been a hard-fought campaign.

He said: “It is great news. What is great about it is that the district council have listened to feedback.

“The frustrating thing before was that it seemed like they were going to bulldoze it through anyway.

“What we are hoping now is that they can come up with something better. We are pleased that local democracy has shone through.”

Another resident Sue Zatland, who also fought for a better design, said she was delighted with the news.

She said: “I am amazed – I’m still just taking it all in.

“We were determined not to let it go through. I must have spoken to about 50 households and they were all absolutely appalled when they saw how horrible it looked and how big it was.

“We will not give up if that monstrosity rears its ugly head again. I am proud that we all came together to stop it.”

Councillor Trevor Egleton, cabinet member for resources said: “The council, as the client, instructed contractors Balfour Beatty to withdraw the planning application following the receipt of a large number of consultation responses which we want to take the time to consider in much more detail.

“We are pleased with the way the local community has engaged with us so far and we will now take a step back and review the options for delivering additional parking provision in the town and continue our engagement with the interested parties in Gerrards Cross including Chiltern Railways and Network Rail.

“This will take time but we want to ensure we get the best for the town of Gerrards Cross.

We have the evidence that there is an increasing demand for additional car parking in Gerrards Cross town centre for shoppers, local businesses and residents.

“This is borne out by two independent capacity studies undertaken late last year and early in 2017.

“What we have done so far on pre-design work including ground investigations, legal searches, services and negotiations with adjoining land owners, will continue to be relevant and will be used for any future development.”