Lancaster District Local Plan

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APPENDIX 6 - LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL CAR PARKING STANDARDS

LEVEL 1 areas are the principal town centres identified in Policy 40 of the Structure Plan, where traffic congestion is most serious and where it is necessary to impose stricter controls on the amount of car parking. These town centres are:

BLACKBURN
BLACKPOOL
BURNLEY
LANCASTER
PRESTON

Applications for development with associated car parking which are within or directly serving these town centres should be considered in relation to the following criteria:

Servicing parking area should be allowed for the safe manoeuvring of service vehicles within the curtilage of any development. In exceptional circumstance, where there is no environmental harm or adverse effect on traffic safety, premises may be served from the highway or other parking areas.
Other operational and non-operational parking space will not normally be allowed.
Where opportunities arise, authorities should seek to encourage appropriate redevelopment or re-use of existing private parking to bring provision in line with these provision levels.
Developers will normally be required to pay commuted sums, as a contribution to meeting the Transport needs of development, including the promotion of accessibility in accordance with the local transport objectives, as advised in paragraph 4.10 of PPG13.
In exceptional circumstances, it may be appropriate to allow some on-site parking in town centres subject to it being demonstrated that such provision is essential to the operation of the proposed development, and that there is no detriment to the local environment or to highway safety. For example, a hotel development which might add to the vitality of a town centre, may justify some on-site parking provision.
In the management of non-operational parking space in these town centres, there should be a gradual shift from long-stay parking (e.g. for employees) to short-stay parking (e.g. for visitors/customers).

LEVEL 2 areas are the smaller town centres where congestion may be less serious or prolonged, but where it is necessary to control parking to prevent traffic and environmental conditions becoming worse. Within the core areas of the larger or these centres it may be appropriate to restrict the development of on-site non-operational parking as in LEVEL 1 centres, but generally, in these locations parking policy may be little more permissive.

These centres are: -

ACCRINGTON
BLACKPOOL SOUTH SHORE
CHORLEY
CLEVELEYS
CLITHEROE
COLNE
DARWEN
FLEETWOOD
KIRKHAM
LEYLAND
LYTHAM
MORECAMBE
NELSON
ORMSKIRK
POULTON-LE-FYLDE
RAWTENSTALL
ST. ANNES
SKELMERSDALE

AND OTHER LOCATIONS IDENTIFIED IN LOCAL PLANS AS OFFERING OR HAVING THE POTENTIAL FOR CONVENIENT ACCESS BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT.

In these areas applications for development involving car parking, within or directly serving the town centre, should be considered in relation to the following criteria:

Servicing and other operational parking space should be allowed for the safe manoeuvring of service vehicles, normally within the curtilege of any development. Subject to there being no environmental harm or adverse effect on traffic safety, premises may be served from the highway or other parking areas.
Non-operational parking space up to 50% of the maximum level set out in the Parking Provision Levels may be allowed, unless the resulting development would be unjurious to interests of townscape quality and urban design or the highway authority considers that the site is unsuitable in relation to such strategic factors as road layout, pedestrianisation schemes and public transport.
Developers will normally be required to pay commuted sums, as a contribution to meeting the Transport needs of development, including the promotion of accessibility in accordance with local transport objective, as advised in paragraph 4.10 of PPG13.
Where opportunities arise, authorities should seek to encourage appropriate redevelopment or re-use of existing private parking to bring provision in line with the Parking Provision Levels.
In the management of non-operational parking space in these town centres, there should be a gradual shift from long-stay parking (e.g. for employees) to short-stay parking (e.g. for visitors/customers).

LEVEL 3 areas are the remainder of the County outside LEVEL 1 and LEVEL 2 areas as defined in local plans. In these areas applications for development involving car parking should be considered in relation to the following criteria:

All parking provision shall be within the maximum levels set out in Section 7 (Parking Provision Levels).
The provision of servicing and other operational parking space in accordance with this Guidance will be required, normally within the curtilage of any development. Subject to there being no environmental harm or adverse effect on traffic safety, premises may be served from the highway or other parking areas.
Non-operational parking space up to the maximum standard may be allowed unless there is likely to be environmental harm or adverse effect on traffic safety.

Parking Provision Levels

The parking standards set out in the following paragraphs are expressed in maxima except where otherwise stated. It is intended that they should be incorporated into local plans and used for development control purposes both for new development and changes of use. The schedule refers to non-operational parking space. Operational parking space is dealt with in Paragraphs 12-13 (below).

The increased use of bicycles is recommended by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Provision levels for cycle parking are included alongside those for car parking in relation to each main land-use category. Cycle parking levels are expressed as a minimum, unlike those for car parking which are expressed as maximum. Cycle parking demands should be regularly monitored and provision augmented where appropriate to keep up with increasing usage. In addition to the provision proposed under the separate land-use categories, it is also recommended that transport interchanges should provide for cycle parking.

Provision for motor cycle parking should be made within each large development site, defined as a site with a total of 25 or more car parking spaces proposed or existing. In comparison with private motor vehicles, the use of motorcycles (known as powered two-wheeled vehicles or PTWs) may have some advantages in an urban context. It has been suggested that PTWs offer a relatively space and energy efficient means of transport. Measures which can be taken which address this issue, in that they may facilitate greater use of PTWs, include the provision of ample and secure parking. An appropriate standard for the provision of PTW parking is one PTW space for each twenty-five car spaces. Although this is above the current levels of PTW usage (some 3%), the lack of existing provision is regarded as grounds for a higher provision level in new development. PTW spaces are additional to those required for pedal cycles.

10.

The calculation of parking provision for mixed use developments will vary with the types of uses proposed. In cases where the mixed uses generally operate concurrently, it would be reasonable to require the provision levels applicable to all uses to be aggregated. Where the mixed uses generate demands at different times of the day it would be reasonable to require the provision of space on the basis of the development type which is the dominant use of that specific site.

11.

In order to meet the needs of physically handicapped people, others with mobility difficulties and those with young children, 10% of all car spaces shall be provided to 'mobility standard' (minimum width 3.6 metres). No less than half of these spaces shall be signed as being for the exclusive use of disabled persons. Where less than 10 spaces are to be provided, at least one of the spaces shall be to 'mobility standard'. This requirement operates on a 'rounding up' basis, e.g., provision of 25-30 spaces would result in at least 3 of these being to 'mobility standard'.

Non Operational Parking Levels by Land-Use Type

Use Class	Description	Non-Operational Car Parking Spaces (maximum)	Cycle Spaces (Minimum)
A1	Shops	1 car space per 20 sq. m gross floorspace	1 cycle space per 200 sq. m gross floorspace
A2	Financial and Professional Services	1 car space per 20 sq. m gross floorspace	1 cycle space per 200 sq. m gross floorspace
A3	Food and Drink Uses (excluding associated residential accommoda-tion)	1 car space per 6 sq. m gross floorspace	1 cycle space per 200 sq. m gross floorspace
B1	Administrative Offices/ Research And Development	1 car space per 35 sq. m gross floor-space.	1 cycle space per 350 sq. m gross floor-space.
B1	Industry Suitable to a Primarily Residential Area	1 car space per 50 sq. m gross floor-space.	1 cycle space per 500 sq. m gross floor-space.
B2	General Industrial	1 per 50 sq. m gross floor-space.	1 cycle space per 500 sq. metres gross floor-space.
B8	Storage or Distribution	1 car space per 200 sq. m gross floor-space.	1 cycle space per 2,000 sq. m gross floor-space.
C1	Hotel, Motel, Boarding or Guest House Note: where the premises are open to non-residents for conferences/ functions the appropriate amount of additional parking space shall be separately assessed in relation to the guidance for such uses.	1 car space per guest bedroom 1 coach space per 50 guest bedrooms	1 cycle space per 10 guest bedrooms
	Nursing, Rest and Care Homes	1 car space per five residents	1 cycle space per 5 employees (whole time equivalent)
	Residential Schools, Colleges Or Training Centres And Halls Of Residence	1 car space per bedroom in buildings proposed for adults on short courses.	1 cycle space per 10 bedrooms
		1 car space per 2 bedrooms in buildings proposed/designed for students on full-time courses.
	Hospitals	2 car spaces per 5 bed-spaces	1 cycle space per 30 bed-spaces.
C3	Family Housing	2 car spaces per dwelling
C3	Single Bedroom Housing Sheltered Housing	1 car space per dwelling 1 car space per three dwellings Note) Having regard to the advice in PPG13 and that parking guidance is more likely to influence modal choice, rather than car ownership rates, it is not considered appropriate to set �maximum� or �minimum� levels of parking space for housing developments. Rather, a flexible approach is advocated having regard to the anticipated car ownership rates of future occupiers and the need to provide high density development in areas of good access to other means of travel. The following broad guidance is offered as to the levels of parking which may be appropriate for various types of housing development.
D1	Medical/ Health Services	3 car parking spaces per consulting room.	One cycle space per three consulting rooms
	Creche, Day Nursery and Day Centre	1 car space per 25 sq. m gross floorspace.	1 cycle space per three car spaces
	Primary and Secondary Schools Note: The potential environmental and highway safety problems associated with on-street setting down and picking up of school children is acknowledged. However, it is not normally considered practical or desirable to make formal off-street provision. Nevertheless, careful consideration should be given to this issue at the planning and design stage to ensure that child and highway safety is not compromised.	1 car space per classroom or alternative teaching area	4 cycle spaces per classroom
	Sixth Form and Further Education Colleges	1 car space per 35 sq. m gross floorspace;	1 cycle space per 35 sq. m gross floorspace;
	Training and Conference Centres	1 car space per 35 sq. m gross floorspace;	1 cycle space per 35 sq. m gross floorspace;
	Art Galleries, Museums and Libraries	1 car space per 30 sq. m gross floorspace;	1 cycle space per 150 sq. m gross floorspace;
	Public Halls, Exhibition Halls or Places of Worship	1 car space per 10 sq. m gross floorspace;	1 cycle space per 50 sq. m gross floorspace;
D2	Assembly and Leisure	1 car space per 15 sq. m gross floorspace;	1 cycle stand per 15 sq. m gross floorspace;
Other Uses	Cash and Carry Warehouses	1 car space per 40 sq. m gross floorspace;	1 cycle space per 400 sq. m gross floorspace;
	Car Sales	1 car space per 50 sq. m of display area (internal and external);	1 cycle space per 500 sq. m of display area (internal and external);
	Fuel Stations	1 car space;
	Vehicle Repair Garages and Service Stations	1 car space per 50 sq. m gross floorspace;
	Other Uses	Parking provision for other land use types shall be considered on their merits and in line with that set out in this guidance.

Operational Parking Levels

12.

On-site space shall not be provided in excess of that required to accommodate the number and size of vehicles likely to serve the development at any one time to manoeuvre and stand for loading and unloading. Reduced operational space will be encouraged where:

opportunities are available for shared use of parking space; and/or
opportunities are available for on-street servicing provided that:
it would not cause inconvenience to other uses of the site or neighbouring property;
it would not cause local environmental harm;
it would not have a significant adverse effect on the flow of traffic or road safety.

13.

Provision of operational parking shall be subject to the inclusion of appropriate spaces for cycles, PTWs and the needs of people with a mobility disadvantage, as set out in paragraphs 7.3, 7.4 and 7. 5.

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