Page 267 - All files for Planning Inspectorate

Wealden House, Lewes Road, Ashurst Wood, East Grinstead, RH19 3TB

Census Car Ownership Number of Proposed Potential Parking
Proportion Units Demand
No cars or Vans 18.1% 10 0
One Car or Van 60.3% 33 33
Two or More Cars or 21.6% 12 24
Vans
TOTAL 100.0% 54 57
Table 3.1: Census car ownership data for flats in Ashurst Wood

3.10 Table 3.1 indicates that, based on 2011 local car ownership trends among flat occupiers, a 54 dwelling
development in Ashurst Wood is likely to require 57 car parking spaces. Since this predicted demand is
10 spaces below the WSCC car parking calculator output, the potential parking demands associated with
the development are likely to be far below the 93 spaces the District Council says are required under the
Mid Sussex SPD and the Ashurst Wood Neighbourhood Plan.
3.11 On that basis, the Appeal Scheme provides for the predicted demands of both the residents and their
visitors. Accordingly, it may also reasonably be said that the proposed level of parking provision satisfies
the Mid Sussex SPD and the Ashurst Wood Neighbourhood Plan, since it has been justified on a site
specific basis and on specific grounds.
3.12 Policy DP21 also requires development to avoid severe additional traffic congestion, considering any
proposed mitigation. Mitigation in this case comprises the Travel Plan Statement (which accords with
national and local policies) and an appropriate level of parking provision. Conversely an over-provision
of parking, as advocated by the Council, would inevitably generate additional car trips and hence increase
the risk of traffic congestion, contrary to Policy DP21.

3.13 The Ashurst Wood Neighbourhood Plan is clear in its aim to preserve the village’s character and maintain
its attractiveness as a place to live. It is acknowledged that concerns exist over parking within the
village, although such concerns are familiar to a large proportion of the UK population, whether in town
centres, the suburbs, villages or rural communities. The sustainable solution is not to give way to
unfettered parking demand but to manage demand responsibly. This can be achieved through a variety
of measures including locational planning policies, the provision of alternative modes of transport and
encouragement to use them through travel planning.

3.14 This is much more likely to succeed in delivering the vibrant, safe and welcoming community to which
the Neighbourhood Plan aspires, whilst also making Ashurst Wood a more attractive (and less car-
dominated) place to live.
3.15 The idea that a parking provision some 26 spaces above the natural local demand (including 10 spaces
for visitors) might contribute toward the wider aspirations of the Neighbourhood Plan is flawed. The extra
26 parking spaces would not only generate additional car borne trips, particularly during the already
congested peak periods, but also generate further demand for car parking in other parts of the village,
where parking is a more acute problem. It is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which a short trip to
the village centre on foot or cycle is replaced by a cold-engine / high-carbon car trip, simply because the
additional car is available. Human nature will often favour the car if the choice is too easy.

3.16 In relation to Policy ASW 21, sub-paragraph (a) identifies the avoidance of obstruction on local roads as
the primary justification for increased car parking on site. This is done in the interests of road users’
safety, particularly pedestrians and cyclists. The development takes access from the A22 Lewes Road,
a primary/strategic route carrying long distance traffic as well as local trips. It is clearly inappropriate to
permit parking along its carriageway or on its verges/footways and, notwithstanding the absence of an
objection from the Highway Authority on those grounds, if such parking were to occur, inevitably
restrictions to prevent it would be implemented. In any event the A22 is not a ‘local road’, hence Policy
ASW 21 does not apply.

Appeal Statement: Parking – December 2019
Ashgrove Homes 7
1911051/wheast
Bates No 000266