| Topic: | Re:Re:Residential developments with inadequate parking | |
| Posted by: | Adam Beamish | |
| Date/Time: | 02/02/11 22:50:00 |
| Hi Richard/all, Parking provision is always a controversial planning issue - I can guarantee everytime I attend a public exhibition to promote a major scheme I'm involved in several attendees will always complain that insufficient parking is provided !. National planning policy on transport is contained within Planning Policy Guidance Note 13, which sets maximum standards, and at local level most Councils have their own parking standards. However, the thrust of planning policy in respect of parking provision nowadays is basically that minimal car parking should be provided (apart from provision for disabled drivers), and more sustainable forms of transport should be actively promoted/encouraged (e.g. for mixed use developments as part of any planning permission/associated legal agreement developers will often need to prepare a travel plan and ensure that occupiers adhere to that plan, which usually revolves around making sure occupiers are fully informed and encouraged of alternatives to car use). Increasingly also as part of a planning permission/associated legal agreement developers will make a financial contribution to fund the provision of a car club either on-site or in the nearby area. Also, Councils now have minimum cycle parking standards (usually at least 1 per residential unit), again all as part of the drive (pardon the pun) towards sustainable development/greater use of other means of transport than the private car. So that's why it is 'normal' these days to find minimal parking provision within planning proposals, and it is very rare these days to find applications refused by either Councils or on appeal to the Secretary of State on reasons relating to insufficient car parking provision. On a personal level I don't necessarily agree with the 'logic' behind such policies, because I think most people are unwilling to swap their own cars for public transport, and consequently if parking provision within a new development is minimal then the surrounding streets are soon clogged up with vehicles belonging to people who live on that development. However, rightly or wrongly, national, regional and local planning policies all encourage minimal parking provision. |