Join the fight against '˜ugly' multi-storey car park next to Waitrose

That is the view of residents who oppose the plans and they are urging people to have their say ahead of the September 29 decision date.

The proposal is for a 331-space car park in Lower Kings Road next to the supermarket, replacing the 122-space pay and display car park owned by Dacorum Borough Council.

Rachel Williamson, who lives in Berkhamsted, said: “Very few people seem to be aware of the plans for the four-storey, ugly building to be built in a conservation area, in a location where the existing car parking is already under-utilised. More traffic and emissions would be created at what is already the busiest junction in the town. Its sizeable budget would be better spent on good signage and improved use of the existing parking in and around Berkhamsted.”

Bruce Nixon, of Castle Hill Avenue, who has written a letter to Dacorum Borough Council leader Andrew Williams, said: “It is still, in my view, a fundamentally flawed project whose imposition on our town is widely opposed and resented.

“Publicity for this scheme has been extremely poor and many people are still unaware of what is likely to scar Berkhamsted for many decades unless it is stopped.”

A spokesman for Dacorum Borough Council said: “The multistorey car park proposal is intended to be presented to the Development Control Committee on Thursday, September 29.

“The final agenda for this meeting will be published by Thursday, September 22.”

If the plans are given the green light by the council’s development control committee, work will start in the coming months. The public meeting takes place on September 29 at the Civic Centre, Marlowes, from 7pm.

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