Residents of the new Horlicks Quarter housing development in Slough have complained they have nowhere to park – causing problems for them and their neighbours.
More than 150 apartments at The Warehouse block of flats on Memorial Avenue – designated as affordable housing – were sold without parking provision after opening in 2022.
But parking problems in the area have risen after the first residents moved in. Now people living in the flat have found new bollards and double-yellow lines have made it ‘impossible’ for them to park.
One resident told the Observer: “The developers haven’t allocated any parking to affordable housing, but Slough Borough Council have put in double yellow lines so it’s impossible to park anywhere near our homes.
“I’ve asked the council how we can park safely without causing disruption, and their answer is double yellow lines and bollards.”
The Horlicks Quarter will contain up to 1,380 homes once fully completed – but there will be just 494 parking spaces. Of those, plans recently approved at Slough Borough Council say just 25 resident parking spaces will be allocated to up to 245 affordable homes.
Housing association Sovereign Network Group, which provides 152 shared-ownership flats at The Warehouse, confirmed none of them have parking provided.
Developer Berkeley and Sovereign say the development was designed to be ‘largely car-free’. They said this vision would be supported by a private car share scheme, a bike hire station, and improved walking and cycling links to nearby Slough train station.
They also say new residents were told of this before they decided to move in and that the number of parking spaces was determined by Slough Borough Council as part of the planning process.
But at a planning committee in May this year councillors said there had been an increase in ‘dangerous’ and ‘inappropriate parking’ with ‘cars parked all over the place’ since the first residents moved in.
Council planning officers replied that they were looking at solutions including bollards and on-street parking controls. But one resident of The Warehouse said this had just left them trying to park further afield.
They said: “While we understand that parking was not included when we first signed up, we believed there would be alternative ways for us to park.
“However, this has been made nearly impossible by Slough Borough Council, as they have implemented double yellow lines in the places where we were parking, without causing obstruction to residents in the surrounding area.”
A spokesperson for Sovereign said the Horlicks Quarter was ‘designed to be a largely car-free development given its proximity to the train and bus stations.’
They added: “The vision is to encourage the use of sustainable transport options for residents and visitors in line with current planning policy. As such, our customers were made fully aware of this in advance.”
A statement from Berkeley also said the development ‘has been designed to encourage sustainable living and low car ownership’. Slough Borough Council has been contacted for comment.
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