our residential standards have been derived from the actual demand for parking in ebbsfleet…
Ebbsfleet’s parking requirements have been developed from recent parking surveys of existing villages in the Ebbsfleet area.
These surveys have revealed that there is a general over-supply of parking within these villages, even if it is assumed that all garages contain a car. The more likely scenario is that few garages will actually contain a car, in which case there is a significant over-supply of parking.
It should be noted that these villages are still under construction, and new residents are likely to be relatively younger than many established neighbourhoods. Such households are more likely to have no children, or younger children that do not own a car. As these families mature in the coming decades, and those children learn to drive, it may be assumed that the demand for parking for each household is likely to grow.
However, none of these villages currently have access to the Fastrack service, or the walking and cycling services that are planned. As these systems, networks and services come online, the need to make local car journeys is also likely to decrease. Furthermore, national trends appear to indicate that younger people are learning to drive later than previous generations, well into their twenties.
EDC’s approach is therefore based on providing sufficient parking to meet current demand, with the assumption this is likely to be a ‘peak private car’ scenario. Any future growth in parking demand is expected to be offset by the availability of high quality public transport.
How have the Ebbsfleet non-residential standards been determined?
The transport strategy that underpins the majority of planning permissions in Ebbsfleet is predicated on 40% of local journeys being by walking / cycling or pubic transport.
The existing permissions are thus planned on the basis of 20-25 % switch in the number of local trips from car, to walking, cycling and public transport modes. The revised non-residential parking standards have therefore adopted a 20% reduction in the primary local authority parking standards to align with the current transport strategy. The approach is predicated on the following principles,
Ebbsfleet Garden City is developing as a highly sustainable location benefiting from a comprehensive sustainable transport network.
The commercial development will predominantly be located within the urban central areas and hence closest to the Fastrack and walking, cycling and public transport networks.
It is reasonable to assume that a proportion of residents will move to the Garden City to be close to their place of work and hence within Fastrack, walking and cycling distance.
A proportion of employees within the Garden City will be expected to arrive from Ebbsfleet International station and use onward connections via Fastrack, and the walking and cycling network.
Travel Plans will be implemented for commercial developments.
Empirical evidence referenced within this report already shows low car ownership within the built and occupied areas.
The multi-modal modelling work that underpins the transport assessments supporting the existing planning consents forecast a shift to non car modes.
Monitoring of commercial parking demand should be undertaken to ensure the assumptions hold true.