Commercial estate agent Ivan Moore is advertising the 1.09 acre (o.44 hectare) site for development. The Transform Kingston Asset Strategy meeting of February 2022 says: 

“Placing Kingston’s unique history and heritage at the heart of our regeneration to provide the communities, economy and homes local people value. The borough’s heritage has a positive impact on how people ‘feel’ about living in Kingston and is part of local identity.

As part of the heritage-led regeneration programme Transform Kingston, the potential residential-led development opportunities at the Cattle Market Car Park, GH1 & GH2

could facilitate the delivery of much needed housing for Kingston including affordable homes. Additionally new ancillary commercial,business service,and community space could be provided which is sustainable and complementary to the existing heritage within the town centre.

Twinned with this there is an opportunity for the Council to make more efficient use of their occupational estate/ assets, through rationalisation providing long-term savings and benefits to the taxpayer.

The Cattle Market Car Park site forms part of the adopted Eden Quarter Development Brief Supplementary Planning Document (2015). It consists of a 569 space Car Park. There is a regeneration opportunity (subject to securing a Planning Consent) with potential to provide a residential led mixed use development including affordable, intermediate and market rate homes for both renters and first time buyers with a particular emphasis on providing key worker homes, along with other complementary uses that support the community. The residential development element would sit separately from the proposed new Community Leisure Centre in the town centre which would be retained by the Council along with sufficient car parking for the leisure facility.

It is anticipated that any proposed town centre development and renewal programme will deliver a significant and comprehensive range of community benefits for residents, businesses and visitors over the coming years. These include (but are not exclusive to) the following:

• New jobs and aiding economic recovery
  ●  Delivering a sustainable environment
  ●  Sustain a vibrant and resilient town centre
  ●  New affordable homes
  ●  Reinvestment and renewal
  ●  Strengthened partnerships and resilience
  ●  Financial sustainability  “

It remains the Society’s view, as expressed by KS member and architect Stepen Coats at his talk July last year (link) that we do not understand why this asset was not considered at the same time as new Leisure Centre (LC) development. Aside from Stephen’s contention that the Cattle Market development could have rendered the new LC cost neutral this was a rare opportunity for cohesive town-planning across a very large area instead of the usual piecemeal approach.