A town centre car park could be altered to assist vehicles accessing a new primary school according to a new planning application. 

Plans have been submitted to Ipswich Borough Council to make alterations to Upper Orwell Street car park and create alternative access for the new school set to open in Carr Street.

Permission was granted in 2021 to demolish the former Co-op department store, at 48 to 68 Carr Street, to make way for a new primary school, nursery, along with a rooftop garden.

The proposal to the council is that the car park would now include an electric charging point and access for domestic vehicles. 

To do so the applicants, who are the Department Of Education And Morgan Sindall Ltd, ask to reduce the height of the kerb on Upper Barclay Street. 

This would make it easier for personal vehicles to enter the parking bay from an alternate entrance and they believe it will also make it easier for emergency vehicles to enter the school. 

To facilitate this the proposal also adds plans to include new timber fencing along the entrance of the school. 

However, the school, which is expected to cater to 420 students, will still be a while before it opens. 

Last month they were told by the council that asbestos had been found inside the Grade-II listed mural on the building and needs to be removed. 

The removal will cost them close to £400,000. 

The rare mural was given Grade II listed status last year, meaning that while the demolition could still go ahead, the mural would be preserved.

The 'Harvest' mural is one of only four surviving large-scale English Co-op murals created in the 1950s and 1960s.

The council will make a decision in due course with an expected decision around May 16.