Issue - meetings

Minute 31 refers

The Panel considered a report presenting revised vehicle parking standards which would form an appendix to the District Plan.  It was noted that, at present, the vehicle parking standards for East Herts were contained both within the Adopted Local Plan 2007, at Appendix II, and within the ‘Vehicle Parking Provision at New Development Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) 2008’ which supplemented the Adopted Local Plan and provided additional guidance on provision beyond the standards themselves.  The existing maximum standards reflected a local interpretation of the content of Hertfordshire County Council’s ‘Best Practice Guide: Parking Provision at New Development’ (2003), which in turn was based on Supplementary Planning Guidance to the now superseded Hertfordshire Structure Plan.  The currently adopted standards were also based on the now deleted PPG 13, which only allowed for the provision of maximum standards based on average provision of 1.5 spaces per dwelling across the District.

As recent decisions taken by Inspectors through Local Plan Examinations had demonstrated a clear preference for including any policy requirements or standards within the Local Plan document itself, the Panel considered a draft Appendix to the East Herts District Plan to enable new standards to be included which better reflected current circumstances and which, while partly based on the currently adopted parking standards, also reflected provisions contained within the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance (PPG).

In response to Members’ questions and comments, Officers confirmed that the proposed revised parking standards would offer more flexibility in allowing the Authority to impose different standards in different zones of the District.  As the document had not been subject to public consultation, it could not be adopted at this time.  However, the standards could be considered a material consideration and be given weight in determining planning applications.

The Panel supported the recommendations now detailed.

RECOMMENDED - that (A) the draft District Plan Appendix concerning Vehicle Parking Standards be noted, with a decision on its final content being deferred and considered alongside the rest of the District Plan; and

(B)      a replacement Supplementary Planning Document on Vehicle Parking be prepared alongside the District Plan which will include updated guidance on design issues.