Talking of the city centre and planning and parking.

I noticed that there are council planning posters up round leadmill Street, i believe they want to take away parking and even access around there. As the council already accepted plans for the building i live in without enough parking, this is going to cause all sorts of problems. When the students are at college there is already very little street parking to be had.

What makes it even worse still is that students (or anybody who doesn't live in s1) can buy a parking ticket for £50 a year. With that you can park in any metered parking. Residents can only get these IF the company who put up the building applied. I am told the builders who did the building i live in didn't apply, so i cannot get one.

Now this all seems the wrong way round to me. Firstly are the council giving planning permission without considering parking? If not why would the builders have to apply when this is part of the planning application?

It seems there are distinct traffic advantages to having city centre housing. I can walk most places and don't need to use my car. But because of that i need parking most of the time as my car will often just sit on weekends. I think the council need to think this through properly accept the advantages of not having those people having to drive in to the city during rush hour traffic and allow sufficient parking. If they continue to take parking away, they are only going to reduce the cost of the property and negate the benefits of city centre living.

Does anybody know how the whole process is supposed to work?

Originally posted by back2basics
What makes it even worse still is that students (or anybody who doesn't live in s1) can buy a parking ticket for £50 a year.
How come i've never heard of this?

whats this £50 unlimited parking ticket then? whats the catch?

No catch, just restrictions. The two student places near me are able to get them. When i phoned they told me there is a parking ticket, but because the people who built our place didn't apply we cannot have one.

Basically i beleive it allows you to park at set metered parking near to the post code you live. So it's not for everybody.

How it works is that when you submit a planning application you have to submit a "Transport Plan" which details how the building will implement sustainable uses. These are ultimately incorporated into the South YorksTransport Plan for the future provision of road, busses, trains, parking, etc.

Some buildings, mainly student accommodation are totally, or almost totally "car free developments". This is because the occupiers can function without a car. Also, car parking is a very expensive commodity to build in a city centre and you can't just give it away. If the residents choose to have a car, then they have to pay for the parking charges. It's not a bad system actually.

First students CAN get the parking tickets, but residents cannot. So they are obviously not car free developments.

So i presume the company put in a plan. This particular building has parking spaces in the building for only about 10% of the residents. So i am sure we would normally expect much more than 10% to have cars typically. Up till now it works OK, it's not great sometime there are no spots to be had at all. SO now they plan to take away street parking, how is that sustainable? The plans must have accounted for people parking on the metered parking.

These year long tickets are meant for residents, i don't mind paying, i just don't want to continually plug a meter. But they are taking away the option of parking on the street. Thats not sustainable development and it seems like a case of one hand not talking to the other.

Meters arent meant for leaving your car on as a residents parking space. Didnt you know that there wouldnt be enough spaces when you moved in? Why do you think that parking spaces cost £12k - £15k on developments where they are provided? Like I said, its expensve to build parking spaces in town - thats why they cost a lot. Could you manage without owning a car, maybe just renting when you actually needed one?

Tony your missing the point. The coucil agreed for the housing to be build, it is their job to make sure their is sufficient parking before they agree to planning position. This is how it works everywhere else in the UK.

Sorry to say that I'm not missing the point. This is the system that we have, and it's partly designed to make people think about how they live, and the travel choices that they make. What would be unsustainable is to fill up the town with dense housing, and then have everyone filling up the roads with cars from basement car parks. It's just a choice that you have to make - and I assume that living in town, you like the closeness of stuff. I need to get around daily, so I live on the outskirts and have 2 cars.

Tony the council has a parking scheme for RESIDENTS, it's £50 a year. Students who are not residents can get it. Builders must apply for it. These are the cities rules. When you are planning for a building impact on parking and the environment is taken in to account. It has nothing to do with making people think about what they do, because SYSTEMS ARE IN PLACE for residents to get parking (contrary to what you are trying to tell me). This is as far as i have got with understanding the process. What i do not get is how the planning department can then take away those parking spots and not expect a problem.

Sorry Tony but i am looking for somebody who understands the planning process in Sheffield, not for a debate.

What do you expect to be able to do? From what you say, you have moved into a flat, where there was obviously not enough parking. You then parked on the street, and youre cross because you now cant do that. How is that anyone's fault but yours?

BTW I understand the planning process for city centre apartments in Sheffield as well as anyone you are likey to come across.