Housing on one of Nottingham's only free car parks taking shape

A Nottingham housing development transforming an area that once boasted one of the city's only free car parks is taking shape. As part of broader plans for the new Sherwood Library, developers are building 12 houses and 22 flats around the new facility.

The library itself is mostly completed but a firm opening date has not yet been set, with the city council saying it remains on track to welcome visitors from the summer. Around the library, new pictures now show progress on the housing development.

The properties are partially based on land that once housed the Spondon Street Car Park in Sherwood, one of the only Nottingham City Council-run free car parks. That facility is being replaced by a new car park at the back of the Sherwood Library, though artists' impressions suggest this car park will be smaller than the one it replaces.

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The nearest available free car park is on Winchester Street, also run by Nottingham City Council. Concerns were raised by residents at the time of the initial plans coming out about the loss of free parking.

Planning application documents on behalf of Hockley Developments read: "A loss of free public car parking capacity was a concern amongst residents, expressing the feeling that this would have a detrimental impact on local business. It is therefore important to retain as much parking as possible across the scheme, whilst relocating the existing carpark to allow for more efficient use of space on the site.

"In addition to the bays parallel and perpendicular to Spondon Street, more car parking provisions are located out of sight of the primary shopping frontage, behind the library building. This space shall also include a row of cycle storage to the rear of the semi-detached plots, and a green buffer strip which is to be planted with suitable foliage for nesting birds and bats."