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Lancashire's Parking through the LTP1 period comprises;
New Parking Standards were adopted as part of the Joint Lancashire Structure Plan in March 2005 and have been cited by the Regional Assembly as an example of good practice. The Parking Standards take a holistic approach to the transport impacts of new development. An important additional innovation was the introduction of accessibility criteria to the calculation of parking standards based on a simple form completed by developers. More parking is allowed in locations with poor public transport access but developers are expected to contribute to enhancing accessibility by sustainable means. Clear thresholds are established for a broad range of uses identifying where Transport Assessments and Travel Plans will be required. SPG “Access and Parking” provides advice on what the content of such documents should cover.
Strategy implemented broadly as planned with some delays
The Police undertook parking enforcement across the county prior to 2004. Providing the necessary resources for this role competed with other important functions and became increasingly haphazard. The ParkWise initiative was implemented across the County in September 2004. The title chosen reflects the strong emphasis that has been placed on educating the public to park wisely and appropriately. This includes themed posters, radio adverts and use of the printed media. Topics covered include dangerous parking outside schools and encouraging use of “park and ride” and thus complement broader LTP objectives. Enforcement is seen as a complementary activity.
Parking Attendants are employed directly by the Districts and also cover off-street Council operated facilities. Having a central administrative function enables Attendants to be deployed flexibly as and when required, including across District boundaries. ParkWise has been very successful in promoting more efficient use of on-street parking.
Existing town centre car parks have been redeveloped in Chorley and Leyland as supermarkets. The St Peter's multi-storey car park in Burnley has been redeveloped as a new combined leisure/health centre under the LIFT initiative of the East Lancashire PCTs. In Chorley a further Town Centre car park was replaced by the new Chorley Interchange bus station. Real time Car Park availability signing indicating the number of spaces available has been introduced in Preston, Chorley and Burnley to direct motorists to the nearest car park with available spaces.
Many new residential apartment developments, eg in the centre of Preston, have parking provision of less than 1 per property. “Access and Parking” SPG provides policy support for such an approach. Following the success of two demonstration Home Zones, developers are being encouraged to incorporate the principles into new development.
248 Travel Plans were produced in the period from 2001. Some of these were at the request of employers, business parks and hospitals while others were a result of planning conditions. A number of these plans require parking reductions to be made by the developer if Travel Plan targets are not met.
Edge Hill University green travel plan has won two national awards. Lancashire County Council has set an example by developing its own Staff Travel Plan. This has included reducing parking at its main site in Preston. Overall the number of County Council staff in Preston coming to work as a sole car occupant has fallen from 58.5% in 2003 to 49.8% in 2006.
Parking policies have contributed to the successful delivery of our target to restrain traffic growth to less than 5% over the LTP1 period. Our cordon lines for cities and towns have shown we have maintained traffic levels into our towns at generally the same level over the LTP1 period and have achieved a reduction in Preston and Burnley.
In Burnley the St Peter's 512 space Car park was demolished to make way for a health centre. The new development required only 162 spaces giving a reduction of 350 spaces in the town centre.
A town centre car park was the site of the new Chorley Interchange bus station. Real time car park management and signs were introduced to direct drivers to the nearest available car park.
The ParkWise project has enabled the integration of management of the on street and off street parking which was previously managed separately. Where on street charging is in force charges for on and off street car parking are coordinated to make on street parking more expensive than the off street car parks. Parking charges have been increased to discourage car commuting and encourage the use of alternative modes. In Preston two Park and Ride sites have been introduced to offer 1200 spaces outside the City.
47 additional Residents Parking Zone schemes have been introduced within the county during the LTP1 period with Pendle being the most active promoter and further schemes in Burnley and Lancaster. Preston have improved seven of their existing schemes. Two Home Zones have been completed in Morecambe and Burnley.
A new methodology has been developed for to assess the suitability of development sites and the necessary contributions to transport infrastructure. This methodology is based on the accessibility approach in the Parking Standards. Contribution levels are set out in a matrix that directly relate to the accessibility of the development. The actual figures used are derived from typical trip generation rates factored against known costs for provision of public transport, walking and cycling schemes and broader issues such as traffic calming. As with the “Parking Standards” an electronic calculator has been developed and placed on the LCC website. This approach has been successfully used to obtain significant contributions from major developments and is used as the basis for responses to Strategic Planning application comments.
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