DECENT provision for car parking must be part of any redevelopment of a key town centre car park, it has been claimed today.

DECENT provision for car parking must be part of any redevelopment of a key town centre car park, it has been claimed today.

Keen to boost its finances, Ipswich Borough Council has earmarked the Village Car Park on West End Road as prime saleable real estate.

Future development could see a major development of homes, shops, as well as riverside bars and cafes.

However there are fears that development of the area could result in a massive decrease in the overall number of town centre parking spots.

The site provides hundreds of parking spaces for town centre workers and visitors.

Deputy leader of Ipswich Borough Council, councillor John Carnall, said: “We would need to have a multi-storey car park or underground car park to make sure we still get adequate provision there for people.”

Mr Carnall added that the site offered a good opportunity to redevelop the area along the banks of the river Orwell.

“It could be a quite an attractive area with a riverside walk and cafes and bars.”

The first stage of the process to ready the site for sale is due to get under way in the next couple of months after members of the council's executive this week agreed to earmark close to £1million to reposition a major power line underneath the car park.

The move will make the site more suitable for development and the £800,000 cost has already been raised through funding from the East of England Development Agency and the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The site immediately opposite the Village Car Park off Ranelagh Road is already earmarked for a Ramada Encore hotel.

Developers Fairview want to build a 127-bed hotel on the plot of land.

The building is intended as part of a development of 358 apartments currently being constructed further along the river Orwell.

An application for the hotel is currently being considered by town planners.

Does Ipswich need more waterside developments? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk