Plans to add 250 parking spaces to Colney car park approved

The project will see the four-storey facility at Rosalind Franklin Road in Colney expanded from 794 spaces to 1041, with the new spaces added to the northeast of the site.

It is currently used by staff and visitors to the Norwich Research Park and N&N Hospital.

The multi-storey car park in Colney (Image: Google Maps) Applicant Carter Design Group said the expansion has been designed to reflect the appearance and finish of the existing car park and would not exceed the overall height of this structure.

A series of assessments and reports carried out by the group confirmed that no "adverse impacts" would be made on local ecology as a result of the build and no changes are proposed to the access routes in and out of Rosalind Franklin Road.

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While there was no objection to additional parking in the area, Norfolk County County's highways department suggested steps be taken to ensure that enough spaces were provided to the hospital rather than just the research park in accordance with the Greater Norwich Local Plan. 

The expansion will increase the number of car parking spaces at the site by a quarter (Image: Google) Opened in 2021, plans to expand the car park were put forward in December last year to support future demand at the hospital and research park.

A spokesman for Carter Design Group previously said: "The car park has assisted greatly in the marketing of the park and in the operation of the N&N and runs in parallel with the continued development of this area.

"The current application to extend the existing car park reflects the need for the developer to look forward, plan for the future and offer confidence to the market that its car park infrastructure is in place and not compromised by other long-term demands."