Parking Provision
I support Policy BE17 on parking standards and the text in paras 5.133 - 5.141. I agree that we need to be realistic about car usage in the short term while working towards a modal shift away from a car-dependent culture in the longer term. This will not be easy. I have made some suggestions on this subject when commenting on the Design Guide. In relation to the proposed re-development of Council-owned car parks, I think that care needs to be taken when planning for the re-provisioning of car parking to ensure that there is no shortfall, especially bearing in mind that the occupiers of units on such re-developed sites, whether residential or commercial, will have a need to use a proportion of the newly created parking spaces for themselves. Any shortfall in parking provision would lead to congestion in the Town Centre, which would be counter-productive to the aims of the Local Plan.