Nothing Fenland Council can do to stop Horsefair car park in Wisbech being demolished

Owners of a multi-storey car park under threat of demolition have been told they don’t need planning permission to knock the building down.

NewRiver Retail Ltd who own the Horsefair shopping centre car park are planning to demolish it under what is known as ‘Permitted Development Rights’ – meaning it does not require planning permission to go ahead.

Last week the Citizen reported that the property owners want to demolish the car park, which has been described as “vital” to the community by local councillors, to make way for a supermarket.

Local councillors signalled their concerns about the plans not only over the loss of the 360 car parking spaces it will cause but also over how quickly any replacement building will be built but they have now been advised they have no power to intervene.

Cllr Steve Tierney, one of the ward councillors, said: “We have no certainty over what the space would be used for if they went ahead with demolition.

“It could stay as an empty building lot for years, becoming an eyesore, a danger, a magnet for antisocial behaviour. Although the applicants have suggested it might be for the building of a new supermarket, there is no guarantee this would proceed.”

NewRiver Retail has notified Fenland District Council of its plans to demolish the car park under Permitted Development Rights, which exist in planning legislation for certain demolition works outside of a conservation area.

During a ‘prior approval’ phase now underway, the council can only consider the details of the demolition plans rather than whether it should grant approval for the demolition at all.

The purpose of prior approval is to give Local Planning Authorities the opportunity to regulate the details of demolition, in order to minimise the impact of that activity on local amenities, but not to actually prevent or oppose the demolition.

Cllr Dee Laws, Fenland’s portfolio holder for planning, said: “Demolition of this type of building is permitted in planning law, so the council only has limited powers available when considering this matter. We can only consider how the building will be demolished and the proposed restoration of the site afterwards to ensure the local amenity is not adversely affected.

“We are in discussions with the owners, NewRiver Retail, to ascertain their future plans for the site. Any future redevelopment will be subject to the usual planning application process.”

Prior approval applications are delegated to a local planning authority’s head of planning to consider, rather than being determined by the planning committee.

Any future redevelopment of the site would be considered under a separate planning application.

At this time, the plans for redevelopment are unknown. Until NewRiver Retail shares these plans or submits a planning application, no view on what may come next can be taken by the council or local councillors.