MOULTON Parish Council has issued a comprehensive response to feedback received since the unveiling of the Regent Street Backs redevelopment.

The area behind Regent Street, currently occupied by a row of garages, was earmarked for redevelopment in the recently adopted Neighbourhood Plan.

Plans include 24 homes and public parking spaces. While a planning application is yet to be submitted, the council put the proposed masterplan on show to residents – prompting criticism.

In a response published on its website, the council has addressed issues such as alleged secrecy and design flaws.

A spokesman said: “The council would like to thank every parishioner who attended the informal information evening at Royal British Legion in September, who wrote to the parish council or who contacted councillors to express their opinions and views about the proposed scheme. We have received a number of responses – both formally and informally – to the proposed redevelopment scheme of council-owned land to the rear of Regent Street.

“The council rejects wholeheartedly any allegations that there has been a lack of openness and transparency with the production of these plans.

“The ‘Regent Street Backs’ project has been discussed at public parish council meetings and is a standing item on our published agenda for the last two years.

“The council has not withheld our intention to make better use of the land by supporting a redevelopment approach, while delivering a scheme in accordance with the wishes of the parish.”

Among residents’ concerns were fears that the proposal was a money-making move to increase council tax while displacing garage tenants and overriding calls for the land to be used in a different way.

The council says that ‘several higher-density schemes’ were rejected for not being in the community’s best interest.

It added that calls for other uses had been considered. A separate space for allotments is in negotiations, while the council said the retail market made shops unfeasible and a school was out of its remit.

Councillors have voted to issue notice to garage tenants that tenancies would not be renewed for 2020.

The feedback is informing further work to develop a full planning application.