Northcliffe Lodge not enough parking & dodgy sustainable report

Northcliffe Lodge: Faulty assessment for “sustainability” of the location

The Council planning report (5 Jan 2017 committee) shows officers willing to reduce parking spaces:  “The Council’s Parking Standards SPG require one space per bedroom, and this equates to two spaces for each of the 23 two bedroom flats and 3 spaces for the 7 larger units. Six spaces are required by the standards for visitor parking, based on a requirement of 1 space per 5 units. However, the SPG allows for a relaxation if the site is located sustainably, with good access to local services and other modes of transport. The site scores well on sustainability points due to its close proximity to bus stops, a public house, schools, a restaurant, public open space, community hall and a church. Consequently, the parking requirements are reduced in accordance with the SPG to 1 space for the 2 bedroom units and 2 spaces for the three bed units. The development makes provision for the necessary visitor parking and each of the 30 units would be served by a single parking space. This equates to a shortfall of 7, when compared against the Council’s Parking Standards”

The Planning officer calculated 37 – at one space per two-bed flat, 2 per 3-bed flat.  The new scheme has 24 two-bed and 6 larger, so the total requirement is now said to be 42 (Highway Authority Observation Sheet, 23 June 2017).  In comparison, the original 1984 approval for 30 units (84/0206) required 55 parking spaces; that was recognised as inadequate in the adjacent Mariner Heights decision (~2005) when 1 space per bedroom plus visitor spaces at 1 per 5 units was prescribed.

The Parking Standards SPG says they follow the CSS Parking Standards 2008, but they categorised the whole north Penarth area and Penarth Haven as:

Zone 3 - Urban - Very much part of a substantial built up area with a number of basic local facilities within 400m walking distance.  (400m from the Clock reaches the top of Albert Rd).

Objective people would look at the dearth of “basic local facilities within 400m, and categorise Northcliffe and Penarth Haven as

Zone 4 - Suburban or Near Urban - This zone comprised the outer edges of the largest towns; suburban locations in towns.

The CSS Parking Standards 2008 document is restricted to members, but can be found on the internet.  Its Appendix 5 has a prescription for allocating “sustainability points”, which must total 7 or more for a “sustainability” reduction.

Local facilities (a foodstore, PO, health facility, school etc.): access to two of these within a 400m walking distance scores 2points, access to more than two – 4 points.  For two within 400-800m walking distance, the score is 1 point, or for more than two - 2 points.

Access to a bus stop or railway station: 300m – 3 points; 400m – 2 points, 800m 1-point.

Frequency of public transport: if does not operate consistently between 7am and 7pm, deduct 1 point.

The planning officer states “close proximity to bus stops, a public house, schools, a restaurant, public open space, community hall and a church”.   Let’s measure distances using the google-map facility, though real distances are further than the map projection, because of the strongly sloping ground.

► Bus Stops – about 100m, on Paget Place

► A public house -  the Clive in John St is about 300m

► Schools – the officer apparently included Headlands special school (250m), which is not available to the local public;  Albert Rd primary school is 450m.

► A restaurant – the Custom House is close as the crow flies, but the walking route round by road is 450m; the Pilot on Queens Road is 500m away.

► Public open space – the Paget Road play area and pocket park is 300m away

► Community Hall – St Pauls is closed; Belle Vue Park hall is hardly used except by the Bowling club and for special event, is 580m away

► Church – St Augustines is 480m by the most direct route (plus some increase for the steep slopes)

Sustainability Score Within 400m – a Pub and Play area -  scores 2 points. The officer wrongly included Headlands school and/or the Custom House restaurant to score 4 points.  

Within 800m, there is a school, GP surgery (unmentioned by the Planner), restaurants etc., but these still score only the two points.

Rail stations are too far away (1000m), regular buses near the roundabout are 850m away, but anyway score just 1 point – the Paget Place bus-stop scores just 2 points, because of limited hours (first bus to Cardiff workplaces is 8.25am) and no Sunday service.

Total Sustainability Score  - 4 points: does not qualify for any reduced parking spaces.   Even if the Officer included Headlands school and the Custom House restaurant within the 400m facilities, the score is only 6 points.  The Officer might have wrongly taken the bus service to meet the 7am to 7pm standard (to gross 7 points), though objectors wrote in on the point.

Walkability to Town Centre facilities, over St Augustines hill

The steep hills and poor-quality pavements have to be considered in assessing  walkability to facilities**.  The town centre clock roundabout is 850m away, with main buses and general food stores (Post Office slightly closer).  The IHT Guidelines give the ‘preferred maximum’ walking distance to Town Centres as 800m.  The Manual for Streets says a range of facilities within 10 minutes walking distance (around 800 metres). 

The route over St Augustines hill puts the town centre 15 minutes distance for fit people, more for those less fit or with a pushchair and/or shopping, and scarcely possible for those with mobility problems.   Observation shows relatively few people currently living in the Northcliffe area actually do walk.  One mobility scooter user lives near the top of Paget Road, where the route to the town centre is less steep.  Crutch/stick users and scooterists from Northcliffe would probably take the route up Arcot Road, but dropped kerbs are lacking.

** The LDP background paper on Sustainable Settlements says (s.3.6) “the general safety and nature of the walking environment in accessing these services will therefore need to be considered” – it cites the ‘Manual for Streets’ that sustainable ‘walking neighbourhoods’ are typically characterised as having a range of facilities within 10 minutes walking distance (around 800 metres). It also notes that the propensity to walk is influenced not only by distance, but also by the quality of the walking experience in terms of safe, accessible, attractive and stimulating walking environments.