Planners have cleared the Windsor Street car park and Gateway offices for demolition without conditions, so no set working hours. No start date yet.

The district council’s planners have cleared the way to knock down Windsor Street multi-storey car park and the empty Gateway offices on Arden Street. Both decisions were issued on Wednesday 28 October.

Neither carries any conditions. That means the planning decisions set no working hours and require no demolition management plan, although environmental health had asked for one.

The council still has to appoint a contractor. No start date has been published, and the car park stays open until work begins.

What was decided

The council applied to its own planning department under the demolition rules in national permitted development law. Under those rules, planners can only decide whether they need to approve the method of demolition and how the site is left.

For both applications, the senior planner decided that approval “is not required” because the demolition is “within the requirements of permitted development”. A manager countersigned both reports on 28 October.

  • 26/02443/DEM11 covers the multi-storey car park, about 8 weeks on site.
  • 26/02444/DEM11 covers the Gateway, which is three vacant office buildings: Apex House and Elizabeth Place on Arden Street, and Conrad House on Birmingham Road. That is about 18 weeks on site.

Cabinet agreed the demolition on 5 October. The method statement, which we reported on 21 October, put the whole job at six to eight months including preparation.

The conditions that were not attached

Two consultees asked for conditions. The officer’s reports turned both down.

Environmental health asked for a demolition management plan to be approved before any work starts. Its response had recommended no work outside 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. The officer decided a condition was “not required”. The reason given is that the contractor will prepare the final methodology after “completion of all statutory processes, surveys and technical reviews”.

Warwickshire County Council’s ecologists asked for a condition tying the work to the nesting bird measures in the bat and roost surveys. The officer found that these matters “are protected under separate legislation” and left the condition off.

The applications themselves say work is expected to run from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, with dust suppression and wheel washing. That is the applicant’s statement, not a planning condition.

What else the reports say

  • Building Control says a demolition notice under the Building Act 1984 must be submitted six weeks before demolition starts.
  • Foundations would be removed to about 1.5 metres below ground. The car park site would be left “secure, level and manageable”, with existing access roads kept.
  • Historic England raised the access between 35 Birmingham Road and Falstaff House, which lorries would use to reach the Gateway site. It wanted to protect the neighbouring listed buildings. The officer found the access is about 4 metres wide and judged the risk of damage “minimal”.
  • No residents commented on either application. Stratford-upon-Avon Town Council made no representation.

What it means for you

If you park at Windsor Street, nothing changes yet. The car park stays open until a contractor is appointed and work starts. The Cabinet report aimed to appoint one “towards the end of 2026 and into early 2027”. Our Stratford parking guide lists the alternatives and their prices.

If you live or work near Windsor Street, Arden Street or Birmingham Road, the planning decisions do not fix the hours. The six-week Building Act notice is the next formal step, and it gives neighbours some warning.

The long-term plan for the land, including the World Shakespeare Centre idea at the Windsor Street end, is set out in our earlier report. Other live cases are on our Stratford planning news page.

Sources