titlepage/contents pg 1-16 - British Parking Association

74 Chapter 6provision for the car isfundamentally at odds with thecreation of high density and highquality built environments, orwhat may be termed “urbanity”.The study identified a continuumof “car freeness” applicable toresidential development thatcould make various degrees ofuse of such space, see above.These classifications are in partdescriptive of past types andpatterns of housing, and in partprescriptive of what could beapplied to new housingdevelopment. Local authoritieswill need to decide whichapproach would be mostappropriate for any onedevelopment on the basis of itslocation and accessibility, andconsideration of the lifestyles ofpotential occupiers.The study paid particularattention to the areas withinwalking distance of town centreswhere, in respect of newdevelopment, the morerestrictive levels of the abovecontinuum would be more likelyto apply. In these areas, itsuggested that the followingmeasures, which becomeprogressively more restrictive,could complement the approachto the design of new housing:● Extension of controlled andresidents’ parking schemes;● The use of pricingmechanisms to rationparking spaces;●●Re-allocation of road spacefrom car to bus andcycleways to providedisincentives to car use andincentives for moresustainable modes;Use of planning agreementsand restrictive covenants oncar ownership for purchasersof new housing withindesignated highly accessiblelocations; and● Neighbourhood car fleets (orCar Clubs).Edinburgh and the LondonBoroughs of Camden andRichmond have applied the “carfree” approach to housing in theirareas. They have concluded thatto be effective the developmentneeds to be in a controlledparking zone (CPZ) and that thebest way of enforcing the car freeelement is to use the CPZ trafficmanagement order to preventthe issue of a parking permit.Rationing of permits is byregulation rather than price andnon-ownership is enforced bytraffic order rather than by aplanning condition. It is alsopossible to prevent the issue ofparking contracts in private carparks to residents of car-freehousing, though this must beachieved as a condition ofplanning permission, andspecified so as to apply to alloccupiers in perpetuity.Car-free or car-reduced housingcarries with it the inherentpossibility that residents will owncars and park them on the streetnear the development. If thestreets are covered by a CPZ,this may not cause any undueproblems, and planningconditions can be used to ensurethat residents of car freeschemes do not park cars in thecontrolled area.Outside areas withcomprehensive parking controlsit is difficult to see how car-freehousing could be made to work.In those circumstances the issuethen becomes one of how muchparking and in what format, andwhether on-street parking bayscan be included as part of theoverall supply of parking. Thiswill be a matter for negotiationand design taking account oflocal circumstances. Factors tobe taken into account shouldinclude:●●The amount of on-streetparking space available;The likelihood of this beingcontrolled at some point inthe future;● The current demand forparking on-street;● The anticipated carownershipprofile of newresidents;●The likelihood of this profilechanging over time; and