Plans to demolish a closed Italian restaurant in Carshalton and build a three-storey building with eight flats and two shops have been submitted.

The application seeks to knock down La Veranda Ristorante in The Parade, Beynon Road, with the new site comprising of 34 solar panels on its roof, electric sliding gates, and security fencing at its rear.

Validated by Sutton Council on April 5, La Veranda was the venue for a Wallington couple celebrating 70 years of marriage, in 2012, and was visited by The X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke.

READ: Wallington couple Diana and Tony Holmes celebrate 70 years of marriage at Italian restaurant in Carshalton

On the design and access statement within the application, it read: “Our client’s proposal is to construct a three-storey building, with an additional four floor, set back from the frontage by three metres.

“This will comprise of eight flats, with two shops below. A lower ground floor level will provide storerooms for the shops, off-street parking for six vehicles, plus storage for bicycles.

“An access road leads to the rear of the property. Metal railings and a sliding gate will surround the entrance, and hardstand for an additional parking space and the storage of refuse and recycle bins will be available within.

“A ramp way will lead to the lower ground floor parking, bicycle store, staircase, and lift.”

READ: The X Factor 2008 winner Alexandra Burke appears at Carshalton restaurant

La Veranda has been vacant ‘for several years’, according to the design and access statement, after it was first opened in 1986 and further states the introduction of local parking restrictions has led to the parade of shops experiencing a ‘decline in patronage’.

One nearby resident, who has a small child and another one planned, has expressed concerns over the proposal.

He says that if they are approved then they would make life ‘very difficult’ due to the amount of disruption and noise involved.

Parent Scott Hubbard, of Wimot Road, said: “I am also concerned about the plan to add an extra story above the natural line of the existing buildings. This has no precedent on this parade, and the extra story plus the extension to the rear will really encroach on us.

“My final concern involves parking. I appreciate the inclusion of seven spaces, however, this is already one short on the number of flats, [and] this is made worse by the fact that four flats are four occupant flats.

“When guests are taking into account this will make surrounding parking worse than it already is.

“With some parking in Wilmot Road already terrible, and the fact the nearest spots are then already some distance away, this could easily make the situation intolerable.”

The application has received one comment so far, published on the council’s website on April 12.

It is currently unclear when the plans will receive a response.

To see the application, click here.