PLANNERS have been told to resubmit design proposals for Crewe's Royal Arcade after the planned multi-storey car park was branded an "eyesore".

After examining the hybrid planning application for the town centre - which will see the car park built alongside a new town bus interchange - Crewe Town councillors say the scheme does not sit in with their "visions of Crewe".

They say the space is "unappealing" and lacks environmental features such as greenery and measures to offset carbon emissions.

And they accuse planners of failing to take into account feedback from engagement events and not listening to community views.

Peveril Securities are developing the site bounded by Lawrence Street, Delamere Street, Queensway and Victoria Street on behalf of Cheshire East Council.

They have levelled the former Arcade shops along with the town clock tower, fondly referred to as Big Bill, to make way for the first part of the scheme, work on which is due to start later this year.

A second phase retail/leisure development will follow after the completion of the bus station and car park by 2023.

A consultation exercise was carried out during March, but it has failed to allay the fears of town councillors, who while welcoming the overall regeneration scheme have demanded a list of measures be addressed before the plans get the green light from the borough council.

Cllr Joe Cosby, who has raised concerns about the scheme's aesthetics, says it should face rejection if a raft of improvements are not included.

"While I welcome the formal planning application and believe it a step forward in realising the dream of a new town centre for Crewe, it is sadly clear engagement events and community feedback have been ignored," he said.

"The space, both indoors and outside, is unappealing, and I would go so far as to describe the proposed designs of the car park walls as an eyesore.

"The entirety of the design lacks any unique identity - it could simply be picked up and dropped into any vacant space in any town in the country"

The criticism of the designs extend to failing to provide a "green or living wall" in front of Delamere Street as well as rooftop solar panels, which have been asked for in community consultation meetings.

"Residents will be expected to live with these designs for the next 50 years and the outcome of this application will inevitably impact on decisions made for the wider Royal Arcade site," added Cllr Cosby.

The town council's planning committee this week voted to object to the design proposals in their current form and called for "significant" amendments to be made with Chairman John Rhodes declaring: "It's not good enough in its current form and it needs to be improved on."

Councillors want developers to address; the sustainability demands of a climate emergency by including EV charge points and solar panels, increasing cycle parking space and "greening" by planting more trees and green wall planting.

Criticism of the scheme has not just been reserved to Crewe's councillors. A number of residents have used Cheshire East Council's planning portal to object to the application.

One described the proposals as "very oppressive aesthetically" and another stated "paving of vast spaces and black elevation are not environmentally friendly especially in the times of prolonged heatwaves and overall global warming. This space doesn't look inviting".

Another resident claimed: "The bus station is badly designed, retaining the risk of collision from reversing buses which existed in the current bus station. It is also dumped in the furthest corner of the overall site, possibly because that's what the car driving planners believe bus users deserve."

While one said: "Totally lacking in interest without decoration or ornamentation. In the 1930s councils built Art Deco car parks with frontages resembling offices with windows to blend in with existing buildings. If it could be done 90 years ago it can be done today."

Long-term critic of the Royal Arcade development, surveyor and retail/property consultant Chris McGarrigle, doubts the second retail phase of the scheme will ever materialise in the current economic climate.

He says Crewe should learn lessons from the Baron's Quay shopping development in neighbouring Northwich which has struggled to attract tenants since its completion in 2016.

Mr McGarrigle is among those objecting in writing and claimed: "I would respectfully suggest the whole project is put on hold; you can't grant planning consent for a car park in this location nor grant outline consent for a scheme that forms part of a larger plan that has no hope of ever being built."

Cheshire East Council's strategic planning board is expected to discuss the Royal Arcade plans on June 16.

A spokesperson for the council said: "The planning application has not yet been determined and will go before the council's strategic planning board at a later date. It would be inappropriate for the council to make any further comment at this stage."