The programme manager of the £3 million Diss Heritage Triangle project has praised Royal Mail for amending a planning application for their Diss premises which could have “negatively impacted” upon the scheme.
Royal Mail initially proposed to relocate their current entrance and exit for vehicles from Chapel Street to Church Street — but this was met with opposition from Diss Town Council, saying it would have a “significantly negative impact” on the Heritage Triangle Project by “forcing” traffic through the historic part of the town, adversely affect pedestrian safety and cause delays to traffic at the Church Street / Chapel Street junction.
http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/webimage/1.7148894.1452166724!/image/1377733893.jpg_gen/derivatives/articleMaxWidth_620/1377733893.jpgBut Royal Mail amended the application in the wake of the council’s concerns to retain the entry and exit point in Chapel Street, while creating a new access point for inbound and outbound vehicles in Church Street. The plans were approved in December.
Sheila Moss King, programme manager for the Diss Heritage Triangle and Diss Corn Hall Project, said: “The new application should have no significant impact on the Triangle, and we’re pleased that Royal Mail was able to amend its plans to deal with our original concerns.
“South Norfolk Council’s conservation team have been very specific about the details of the gateway opposite St Mary’s Church, to ensure that it has as little visual impact as possible on the setting of the Grade I church.
“Our concerns with the original application was that it was intended only to create a new Church Street exit, which meant that all traffic would have routed through the Triangle.
In documents on behalf of Royal Mail to South Norfolk, it was claimed the provision of two vehicular accesses would improve their operations within their service yard, and minimise traffic through the town centre at peak delivery times.,Sheila Moss King wrote:The new application should have no significant impact on the Triangle, and we’re pleased that Royal Mail was able to amend its plans to deal with our original concerns
Despite the amendments, which Diss Town Council described as “an improvement on the original plans”, their recommendation remained as refusal, citing traffic impact and pedestrian safety.