WALTHAM ABBEY: Sun Street facelift given the go-ahead. (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

WALTHAM ABBEY: Sun Street facelift given the go-ahead.

7:01pm Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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Plans to transform three boarded up shops in Sun Street into four retail units and flats have been given the go-ahead by the council.

Traders and councillors had complained that the three units made the shopping parade look shabby and run down.

Now under the ambitious plans units 6, 8 & 8A will be transformed.

The current units will be refurbished and two more retail units will be created at the rear of the site looking onto Darby Drive The plans also mean the construction of nine residential one and two bedroom apartments above the site.

Number 8, a former clothes shop has been empty for a number of years and neighbouring unit number 6, once home to the Action for Children (NCH) closed last year.

The council gave the plans the go ahead after agreeing that the front of the retail units would keep a traditional appearance, in line with the rest of the street.

Units 8 and 8a are 19th century listed buildings, but the plans received the backing of the Waltham Abbey historical society who labelled them "an eyesore".

The news has been welcomed by other Sun Street traders.

Mrs Vicky Verde, whose hairdressers is across the street from the site said: "It's a better idea than having them boarded up, they're ugly and I do think they need some different shops in Sun Street.”

“What we could really do with is a WH Smith, or something practical, I just hope we don't end up with another café or coffee shop.”

“A lot of people are upset that they have to pay to park in Waltham Abbey, I think they're going to other places. We've got so many empty shops here now, I just hope that if the units do get taken up that they'll stay for a while.”

The plans come just weeks after two businesses in the street closed, a doctors surgery and the unit containing Cheltenham and Gloucester bank, which was a victim of the deepening recession.