Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Travel & Development Strategy

Forward Plan Ref: 2022/105

Contact: Jason Sherwood, Growth Manager South & Vale, 07795 684708

Report by Director of Transport & Infrastructure (CA10).

Oxfordshire County Council’s Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP), adopted July 2022, outlines a clear vision to deliver a net-zero Oxfordshire transport and travel system by 2040. One of the policies within the LTCP that will be key to supporting this vision is realised is Policy 33, which sets out how the council is seeking to reduce and restrict car parking availability while also creating more attractive places for residents to live and work in.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to adopt and implement the revised ‘Parking Standards for New Developments’ as a formal supplementary document to the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP).

Cabinet had before it the following:

In the agenda pack:

·       Cabinet report on ‘Parking Standards for New Developments’ with annexes

·       Report from the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee

In the (first) Addenda

·       An addendum to the Cabinet report

·       The latest draft of the “Parking Standards for New Developments” document (Annex 1)

In Addenda 2

·       An overview of research

Before considering the item, the Chair agreed to the following requests to speak.

City Councillor Emily Kerr criticised the summary of research in the papers.  She stated that there was decades of evidence to show a strong correlation between car ownership and availability of parking with the number of car journeys.  She believed that the proposals were not in line with the targets adopted in the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP) adopted by the Council.

Councillor Charlie Hicks believed that there had been little movement on the evidence or targets since the Cabinet meeting last month.  He did not accept the assertion in the reports that the evidence was not clear.  The evidence should be established first and then it was possible to have a debate on values.  There were better examples elsewhere of car-free developments both in-city and edge-of-city.

Councillor Ian Middleton supported the aims of the standards but called for a more holistic approach.  Particularly with smaller developments, limiting the number of parking spaces just pushed the problem onto adjoining streets and verges.  There was a need for it to be done alongside waiting restrictions and proper enforcement.

Councillor Robin Bennett stated that areas like Berinsfield and Culham were regarded as villages but, with new development, were effectively becoming the size of towns.  However, they had no Controlled Parking Zones and really required similar policies to edge-of-city developments.

Councillor Duncan Enright, Cabinet Member for Travel & Development Strategy, thanked Members, Officers and the councils for their input on this issue.  The proposals were by no means encouraging cars and were in line with policy.  Car usage was the primary target not ownership.

The proposals would remove the principle of having a minimum number of parking spaces.  Along with improvements in active travel infrastructure, the provision of transport hubs and car clubs will mean that people will be happy to use cars less.

Councillor Enright proposed an amendment to the recommendations that he along with Councillors Gant and Sudbury conduct a review with officers and bring back further changes soon to strengthen the policy.

Cabinet Members made a number of observations:

·         The proposal to further strengthen the document was welcomed.

·         Improved public transport and active travel can be provided to edge-of-city developments.

·         There were huge advantages to having fewer cars including reduction of accidents.

·         The proposal was better than the old policy and it was important to adopt it to set a line in the sand.

·         The biggest influence on car ownership was wealth.

Councillor Tim Bearder left the meeting.

Councillor Duncan Enright moved the amended recommendations.  Councillor Miller seconded and they were agreed.

RESOLVED:

To adopt and implement the revised ‘Parking Standards for New Developments’ as amended in the Addenda as a formal supplementary document to the Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP).

Councillors Enright, Gant and Sudbury to conduct a review with the relevant officers on issues raised by the scrutiny committee and bring back an update to a future Cabinet meeting before the end of this year.