City car park could close for 'affordable' flats

Chelmsford City Council is considering closing the Rectory Lane East car park

A council is considering closing a city centre car park and building "affordable" homes in its place.

The Rectory Lane East car park, in Chelmsford, Essex, could be replaced with 22 apartments, which would all be offered on affordable rent schemes.

It would help a "considerable number of households" currently living in temporary accommodation, a Chelmsford City Council meeting agenda said.

There are several nearby car parks offering alternative parking to the 74-space site, it continued.

The car park opened after blueprints for it were approved in 1989.

It had previously been considered for student accommodation, but other sites nearer to Anglia Ruskin University were used instead.

If approved, the scheme would contribute towards the government's revised housing targets for local councils.

In the Chelmsford district, the annual target was increased from 913 homes to 1,406.

Stephen Robinson, the Liberal Democrat leader of the city council, told the BBC in August there were 480 people on the authority's housing waiting list.

Councillors will discuss the proposal at a meeting later.