Free Car Parking To Be Reduced In High St

Rochford District Council has made a to install a rapid electric vehicle charging point in the High St. This application will however mean the removal of TWO free car parking spaces outside of Natwest Bank.

I welcome the introduction of EV charging points but feel this location is unnecessary. Why couldn't this charging point be installed in the public car park? We don't need to restrict access to the High St for shoppers and people who need to park for a short time for free.

There are multiple objections one being Rayleigh Town Council and it will be interesting to see if this simply falls on deaf ears

Rayleigh Town Council – The Rayleigh Town Council has planning
permission to use the pavement at the application site to be used as weekly high street market and events. The Council objects on grounds of loss of public car parking in the High Street detrimental to the local economy, DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE – 4 June 2019 Item 6
6.3 businesses and market traders and on the grounds of highway safety, traffic generation and impact on the Conservation Area.

ECC Historic Buildings and Conservation Advice - There is no objection to
the principle of installing this feature in a Conservation Area. However, the siting proposed is a prominent position in the centre of the Conservation Area.
Considering the location and size of the feature I consider this proposal will cause harm to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area. This harm is considered to be ‘less than substantial’ to a designated heritage asset and therefore paragraph 196 of the NPPF is relevant.

I recommend other, more sympathetic, locations are explored.