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Car Parking Guidelines
Information Sheet 3
Car Parking Guidelines
This leaflet offers advice and guidance to developers on providing for car parking within new developments. It should be read in parallel with similar leaflets covering bicycle and motorcycle parking.
The provision of car parking is important to many developments for operational and commercial reasons. However, the over provision of car parking can be wasteful of expensive land, costs a lot of money to build and maintain, encourages unnecessary car use and does not always look attractive.
Car parking should be designed with the needs of people in mind. After all everyone needs to walk from their car to their destination. Therefore priority should be given to pedestrians through the use of well-designed, attractive and direct pedestrian routes to main building entrances. The car park should be designed to keep traffic speeds as low as possible and the needs of other users, such as cyclists and service vehicles, considered.
The appearance of the car park should be given careful thought at the design stage. Landscaping is very important to enhance the quality of the setting and the value of a new development, thought needs to be given to the mature height of planting and the adverse effect this can have on security. Lighting is important in the winter and in the evening. It is also essential that hidden corners and secluded parking be avoided, otherwise crime may become a problem. Theft from cars can be a bigger problem than cars stolen. For larger car parking areas the use of CCTV should be considered, and public car parks should be designed to achieve the “Secured by Design” Gold Award standard.
Parking bays should be no smaller than 4.8m long and 2.4m wide. A 6.0m aisle width between bays should be provided. The needs of people with disabilities are important; parking for these people should be located directly adjacent to building entrances and exits, avoiding the need to negotiate kerbs/steps. The width of disabled parking bays should be 3.5m to allow use of a wheel chair.
The Council has recently reviewed its car parking guidelines, following the publication by Government of “Planning Policy Guidance Note 13 – Transport” (PPG13). Set out below is a summary of the revised guidelines which are to be interpreted as maximum standards. There is some flexibility in the standards but higher parking levels will be assessed on a site by site basis, following the guidance set out in PPG13. For any shortfall in parking the Council will need to be satisfied that this will not cause a problem, or can be otherwise managed.
Use | Threshold | City Centre Location | Threshold | Outside City Centre |
Food | Up to 2,500m2 | Operational only | Up to 2,000m2 | 1 space/20m2 |
Retail | Above 2,500m2 | 1 space/30m2 | 2,000 - 7,000m2 | 1 space/10m2 |
Above 7,000 m2 | Please discuss | |||
Non-Food | Up to 2,500m2 | Operational only | Up to 1,000m2 | 1 space/35m2 |
Retail (excl DIY) | Above 2,500m2 | 1 space/60m2 for the first 2,500m2 and then 1 space per each additional 30m2 | 1,000 – 2,000m2 | As above plus 1 space per additional 20m2 |
Above 2,000 m2 | As above plus 1 space per additional 10m2 | |||
DIY | N/a | 1 space/25m2 | N/a | 1 space/25m2 |
Cinema’s | N/a | Operational only | N/a | 1 space/5 seats |
Other D2 uses | N/a | Operational only | N/a | 1 space/22m2 |
B1 inc. Offices & Business Parks | Subject to location | 1 space/70m2 1 space/100m2 1 space/175m2 | Generally within 500m of good public transport | 1 space/35m2 1 space/100m2 |
B2 | To be agreed by the Council | 1 space/3 staff on duty at peak time or 1 space per 70 – 200 m2 | ||
B8 | 1 space/3 staff on duty at busiest time | |||
Higher Education | N/a | Operational only | N/a | 1 space/2-4 staff + 1 space/15 students |
Housing | N/a | Up to 1 space per dwelling | 1 bedroom 2-3 bedroom 4-5 bedroom 6+ bedroom | 1 space 2 spaces 2-3 spaces negotiated. In addition 1 visitor space per 4 houses should be provided |
Student Housing | N/a | Up to 1 space per 5-10 residents | 4-8 bedrooms 9-16 bedrooms | 2 spaces 3 spaces |
Parking for people with disabilities should not be provided at a standard less than 1.5% of the total car parking provision, with a minimum of 2 spaces provided in all cases. | ||||
For other uses, and where you wish to seek a flexible interpretation of the parking standards applied, please enquire by contacting 0114 273 6368.
Please note that these guidelines have been adopted on an interim basis and will be reviewed again when the Unitary Development Plan is updated.
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