A PARKING area in a sleepy village could be scrapped and transformed into a tranquil market square... if enough villagers back the move. 

Dedham Parish Council is reviewing plans to upgrade Royal Square due to concerns over potential safety issues caused by its loose gravel surface.

A public consultation has been launched setting out what could happen with the site.

The council has said the car park has "poor manoeuvrability"  and the gravel can be left strewn across the main road.

As a result, it is considering plans prepared by a landscape architect, which is intended to replace the loose gravel with a natural stone paving or bonded gravel.

In addition, this plan would turn the direction of parking so it is parallel to the road.

An alternative scheme being considered would see the car park removed altogether and replaced with a market square, including formal trees and seating.

Jonathan Smith, chairman of Dedham Parish Council, said: “It is a consultation to see what feelings are about a number of schemes. 

“There’s no necessarily preferred scheme - we may end up with views in the village that lead us down a completely different path.

“It’s been going in November and December – questionnaires went out in the village in early November.

“We’ll send it off to someone who’ll look at it for us independently.”

He added: “The parking is a bit adhoc - it’s quite close to the memorial.

“Ultimately, we’ve had to get a landscape architect to design a car park - this is what they came back with.

“People have been asked in the questionnaire with their views of layout, servicing or do away with the car park.

“We’ve asked people whether they’re for or against and we’ll collate the data and see what the majority view is.

“We’ve tried to do it as democratically as possible and sent it to all residents for their views.

“I’ve heard various views - obviously it’s really down to what the consensus is."

One villager told the Gazette: “I don’t think it’ll make much difference to residents - they wouldn’t really park there for very long.

“But it should just be left as it is - I wouldn’t want to see more paving, restrictions or signage in the future.”