THE architects behind plans for "wonky houses" in Hebden Bridge have now revealed details of a new car-park stacking system.
It will be a central feature of the £10 million scheme to redevelop Garden Street and provide underground spaces for up to 48 vehicles.
"It operates like a shelf-stacking system, using a combination of lift and shuttle mechanisms to park and retrieve cars automatically for owners within minutes," said Philip Bintliff, spokesman for Studio BAAD and Hebden Royd Development LLP.
"This type of system is commonplace in major cities across the world, particularly in small, compact areas where car parking space is at a premium.
"The high costs required to build it would put off many developers but we see it as an acceptable, sensitive way to deliver the extra car-parking spaces that this town and its economy so desperately needs," he said. "It is also suitable for disabled drivers."
Calderdale Council has agreed to sell Garden Street to Hebden Royd Development LLP if it can produce a self-financing scheme to increase the number of parking spaces on the site from the current 42.
The company says that will only be possible by incorporating 48 houses and flats, and several shops.
"The stacker will discreetly accommodate 48 of the 160 car parking spaces within the development, of which 110 will be for public use," said Mr Bintliff.
Critics of the Garden Street development say it is out of keeping with the town and it would not provide enough public parking.
Calderdale councillors Janet Battye and Nader Fekri will hold a public meeting on September 2 to discuss the plan before an application is decided by Calderdale Council.
Councillor Fekri (Lib-Dem, Calder) said: "We are told that more changes could be made to the plans and while it is good that they appear to be prepared to respond to comments, there has got to come a stage when it stops and a decision is taken."
The full article contains 348 words and appears in Evening Courier newspaper.
