Denis Nicole took this photo outside a new development on Cobbett Road. He says there can be up to half a dozen cars parked on the pavement, so he set out to discover why. It turns out that the Local Plan sets not a minimum number of parking spaces for new developments but a maximum. These flats are (just) within a bus corridor high accessibility zone, and here the limit is 0.4 of a space per one-bed and 0.6 of a space per two-bed flat. So the developer only provided 13 spaces for 24 flats.
Crucially, the Local Plan does nothing actually to restrict car ownership in developments, so the excess cars all end up on the street. Is the council trying to "soften us up" for a future (profitable) residents parking scheme?
In the meantime, all these extra cars pose a hazard to pedestrians. Some owners seem unwilling to walk to their cars but won't park on the road, so they obstruct the pavement. If the owner thinks it's too dangerous to leave his car in the road, how come it's not too dangerous for mothers with pushchairs who are forced out into the road?
Or perhaps the owner thinks the parking restrictions don't apply if he's behind the yellow line?
Denis Nicole