OPPOSITION is stacking up over a shopping and apartment complex proposed for a site in Poole.

The application for the In-Excess premises in Ashley Road has now attracted more than twenty objections.

Developers are hoping to demolish the existing buildings and then redevelop the site with 27 apartments, two shop units, a private courtyard and bicycle parking, but no space for cars.

The application has attracted objections from residents, the Society for Poole and the BCP Council's highways team. Dorset Police has also expressed concerns.

Many residents say they are worried about parking in the area and what they say will be an overall reduction in shopping space.

The proposed redevelopment comes from Salisbury-based In-Excess UK Ltd which currently has a shop there.

The company say the Upper Parkstone site, at the junction of Jubilee Road and Ashley Road, can accommodate twenty one and two-bed flats and seven two-bed over four storeys with two commercial units of 80 sq metres and 54 sq metres, on the Ashley Road frontage. Deliveries will be off Jubilee Road.

In-Excess say the proposal is designed to fit in with surrounding buildings and although offering no parking spaces does allow for 38 cycle spaces.

Resident’s objections already lodged with BCP council say that people living in the area already struggle to find parking without extra homes. Others have raised concerns about the noise and disturbance from the demolition and construction of the new building and the size and scale of the new block: “Although the artist impression looks acceptable Upper Parkstone is a well-established residential area and such a large development in such a small space is out of context,” said one objector.

The council’s highways team has asked to defer a decision on the application until delivery arrangements for the commercial units are improved.

It says that the gated access is so constrained drivers are likely to ignore the service area and park on the road, causing problems for other vehicles.

Dorset Police has not objected to the application, but says: “The vehicle turning bay and pedestrian walkway to the shared space appear to cause a conflict in uses that present a potential safety issue. There is little room for larger vans to manoeuvre and this could potentially encroach on the outside living space. Pedestrians will also need to walk across this turning space.”

An objection has also been lodged by the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society which says that rare tiles made in Poole in the 1950s and 60s by Carter and Co on the entrance may be at risk because of the development.

But there has been some support: Said one Library Road resident: “Ashley Road is a bustling high street, one reason we chose to move here 2 years ago. However we have seen rapid decline. It is in much need of improvement to rejuvenates shops and aesthetics of the area. It could be a Little Westbourne encouraging people to visit.”

The application had been expected to be decided by a planning officer but may now go before a full planning committee after ward councillor Millie Earl said she would ask for that to happen.