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Residents' petition after land is to be fenced off
Residents on Belper's Parks estate have launched a petition in protest at being told they can no longer use an unofficial car park on Mill Lane.
Around 40 motorists who use the land will have to make alternative parking arrangements when landowners Amber Valley Housing fence off the site at the beginning of December.
Only two residents, who are tenants of the housing association, will have access to the site with a key.
Other householders will be forced to fight for space in a small area at the bottom of the road, as restrictions are in place along most of Mill Lane.
Amber Valley Housing is fencing off the site because it wants to build homes on the land.
An application to develop the site has been refused on highways grounds in the past but the housing association has since made ammendments to the scheme and will be submitting another application shortly.
But the Mill Lane residents are certain the scheme will not get the go ahead and say they should be allowed to continue to park there until planning permission is granted.
John O'Connell, who has lived on the road for 20 years, said: "It's pure, honest to God, bad temperedness. It's like they've just said 'well if we can't use the land nobody can.' We're not asking for anything, we just want them to leave it alone.
"There's nowhere to park on the lane, it's dangerous. There are double yellow lines down both sides apart from on a very short stretch at the bottom which only accomodates about eight cars. There's nowhere for 40 cars to go but there's going to be a locked empty car park with one car."
Martin Sherman, from Amber Valley Housing, said: "We have a duty to make the best use of our resources to provide affordable homes and will be resubmitting a planning application to provide new bungalows at this site for older or vulnerable residents on the waiting list, which is one of our priorities.
"We have put up notices explaining that the land will now be closed to general car parking. We had previously written to residents to let them know of this change.
"In terms of the impact on traffic in the area, we will work with the highways authority throughout the planning process to address any issues or concerns."
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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