Date: 8 February 2002 Item 4 Report by: The Hampshire County Surveyor, Portsmouth City Planning Officer
and Southampton Head of Planning Policy Written by: Peter Murnaghan, tel: 01962 846920 Purpose and Summary: The Local Transport Plans of the three authorities seek to deal with the increasing problem of traffic congestion, and a number of targets are in place as part of the Road Traffic Reduction Act (1997)(RTRA). A key area in which local planning authorities can exert influence on the level of car use is through the mechanism of a parking strategy and the setting of standards for new developments. Parking standards were last reviewed by the County Council in 1991, and established minimum levels of provision. In practice this has tended to result in larger car parks and an oversupply of parking in locations that might be considered accessible by alternative modes of transport more sustainable than the private car. The availability of car parking has a major influence on travel choice. The transport agenda ushered in by the 1998 Transport White Paper aims to tackle increased traffic congestion and promote more sustainable alternatives to the car. As a result, Planning Policy Guidance Note 13, Transport (PPG13) and Planning Policy Note 3, Housing (PPG3) have been highly influential in shaping the new set of parking standards. On 17 September 2001 Hampshire County Council's Environment Policy Review Committee recommended approval of a new parking strategy and standards. The draft document was developed through a strategic parking working group involving officers of all the local authorities, including every district council in Hampshire. Extensive public consultation took place in spring 2001. This provided clear support for the review and update of the parking strategy, so as to bring the practice of setting parking standards in line with current Government planning guidance. This report advises Members of the modifications to the parking strategy and standards, notes the relevant guidance from Central Government which has shaped the new document, and recommends that the new Hampshire Parking Strategy and Standards be adopted by the three strategic planning authorities as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Hampshire County Structure Plan (Review). The City Councils may choose to adopt the document as part of their City Plans, but this does not negate the value of its adoption as part of the Structure Plan. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. That each of the three strategic planning authorities approve the approach outlined in the "Hampshire Parking Strategy and Standards" based on maximum parking standards and the principle of accessibility. 2. That the Hampshire Parking Strategy and Standards be adopted by Hampshire County Council as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the County Structure Plan 2011 (Review) for application within the area covered by the County Council. 1. Background 1.1 The need to constrain the availability of parking in new developments is now widely recognised by Central Government in the Transport White Paper; Regional Planning Guidance Note 9 for the South East, and the ten year plan for transport (Transport 2010). The RTRA 1997 requires local authorities to assess traffic conditions and set targets for future traffic levels. The Hampshire County Structure Plan Policy T2 states that: (i) within the transport strategies, policies will be promoted with the aim of reducing dependency on car use and encouraging use of alternative transport modes; and (ii) development proposals will be required to conform to parking policies and standards which will take into account strategic and local objectives.
1.2 The Local Transport Plans for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton provide a framework for parking policies to be implemented, and take into account the issue of traffic growth and congestion. The publication of PPG13 in March 2001 strengthened policy guidance on stating maximum levels of parking provision in relation to accessibility of locations to alternative non-car modes. Further that: "Reducing the amount of parking in new and expanded development is essential as part of a package of planning and transport measures to promote sustainable travel choices" (adapted from paragraph 49, PPG13).
1.3 New transport policies should reflect maximum parking standards for broad classes of development. In addition PPG3, published in March 2000, specified that: "Car parking standards that result, on average, in development with more than 1.5 off-street car parking spaces per dwelling are unlikely to reflect the Government's emphasis on securing sustainable residential environments. Policies which would result in higher levels of off-street parking, especially in urban areas, should not be adopted" (PPG3 paragraph 62).
1.4 Reflecting the current policy direction, an officer working group representing the County Council, district councils and unitary authorities has developed the new "Parking Strategy and Standards". 2. Hampshire Parking Strategy and Standards 2002 (Attached as an Appendix) 2.1 Parking standards were previously set as minimum standards, but the same values have, for a number of years, been used as maximum limits. This has been widely accepted as good practice. In some circumstances it could be appropriate that the maximum limit is made more stringent, for example where alternative modes of transport are in place or have the potential to be put in place. The fundamental parameter in this process is the accessibility of the development site. Whilst it is for planning authorities to determine the level of parking for new developments, within the context of an overall and consistent strategy the accessibility of sites is the key issue. The County Council is establishing a model to measure accessibility by alternative modes, for example public transport. Authorities may wish to measure accessibility in other ways, but the County Council intends to maintain generic accessibility levels for use at a strategic level and in determining larger development applications. The application of maximum parking standards in the document conforms to the requirements set out in PPG 3 (paragraphs 51 and 60) and PPG 13 (paragraph 51). In setting the maximum standards for new development, the strategy requires that a measure of accessibility is used to determine the allocation of parking spaces for all new developments. Indeed, it is possible that for development locations that are closest to transport interchanges, described in the document as "locations of prime accessibility", zero car parking will be encouraged - subject to local circumstances. 2.2 Guidance on parking for cyclists and motorcyclists is provided as a supplement to the document. In accordance with national best practice, disabled parking spaces are to provide 5% of the total parking allocation for the site - general advice is included within "Parking for Disabled People" (Traffic Accident Leaflet 5/95) published by the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions. 2.3 The stated parking standards apply for all new development. In cases where the size of the development is above a threshold, the applicant will be required to submit a transport assessment and company/site travel plan (as recommended in PPG13, paragraphs 87 to 91). 2.4 The draft strategy and standards were published for the purposes of consultation and 167 organisations were consulted, comprising developers, local authorities and transport operators. Of these, 60 organisations responded and some 65% of consultees supported the principle that a parking strategy can contribute to alleviating traffic congestion. Furthermore, 52% agreed with the principle that parking should be reduced according to accessibility. 3. The Way Forward 3.1 The issue of car parking is a complex and sensitive subject. Whilst there are many views about the provision of car parking, it is important to emphasise the following principles: (i) The new approach for setting reduced levels of parking provision is based on the level of accessibility for development sites. The strategy seeks to set a consistent approach across Hampshire and the two cities which can reflect the wide variations in land use and local circumstances. It will continue to be refined in the light of experience, whilst allowing local planning authorities to consider the best use of available land, reflect existing levels of parking provision and work towards improvements in accessibility for the future. (ii) The parking standards aim to reduce the growth in casual on-street parking, especially long-term parking, and tackle the environmental impacts of overspill parking associated with new development proposals. (iii) The strategy aims to promote the development of Green Travel Plans - to encourage more sensible use of the private car and discourage general car use, especially for commuting journeys where alternatives could be used. (iv) The new parking strategy and standards conform to Government guidance in terms of limits for the different land uses and thresholds for transport assessments and travel plans.
3.2 It is proposed that the new Strategy and Standards are adopted by the three strategic planning authorities to guide local planning authorities and developers in determining appropriate levels of car parking, by taking account of accessibility and local circumstances. 4. Conclusion 4.1 The Hampshire Parking Strategy and Standards has been developed through a strategic parking officer working group, and tested through public consultation. Maximum limits will now be formalised, but it will also be possible to introduce more stringent standards, provided that accessibility by non-car modes can be achieved to replace car access and parking provision. This gives a new approach to defining levels of parking provision for new developments, based on the concept accessibility of sites to alternative non-car modes. Whilst local planning authorities are able to measure accessibility in the most appropriate manner that they see fit, the County Council has established an accessibility model as a tool to provide guidance at a strategic level and for use with the larger development applications. The parking strategy seeks to provide a measure of consistency for planning authorities in addressing the need for parking within current national planning guidance. | 
