Yet more worrying data about the seriousness of the air pollution problem in London has recently been published, revealing the level of premature deaths that it leads to. The signs of catastrophic climate change are increasingly evident - polar ice caps melting, ice shelfs collapsing, heatwaves in India, drought in Australia and California, flooding... So the ideal time to relax regulations designed to discourage car use in London?
Absolutely not. But a proposal being consulted on by the Mayor of London would do just that.
The proposal in question is a "minor alteration" to the London Plan which would relax limits on the amount of car parking allowed when new housing is built. Though the relaxed limits would only apply in areas of outer London with the lowest level of public transport accessibility, the effect in terms of increased road traffic and increased air pollution would be felt throughout the Capital.
London residents have until 22nd June to comment on the proposals.
What the proposed change would mean
Currently the London Plan includes a table which shows maximum parking provision levels for Central, Urban and Suburban zones depending on the availability of public transport. The nearer to central London and the higher the public transport access level (PTAL), the lower the maximum permitted parking provision. According to this table, the only scenario where provision of more than 1.5 spaces per housing unit is for suburban areas with the lowest level of public transport accessibility - in this case the maximum is two parking spaces per unit.
The proposal is to recommend to outer London boroughs that in areas with the lowest public transport access level (officially classified as PTAL 0-1) they should "consider higher levels of provision". In contrast to the existing tables, which are very specific, the levels of flexibility now being suggested is extremely vague. Consequently, some boroughs might choose to set no limit whatever. The proposed changes are also rather vague as regards the level of public transport accessibility at which "flexibility" might be introduced, to include PTAL2 potentially.
Although this is technically a "minor alteration", the potential effect on future traffic levels could be quite marked, and they would not be restricted to the particular outer suburban areas, since the car owners would frequently travel further into London, exacerbating existing dangerously high air pollution in these areas, as well as adding to congestion.
Though there are some PTAL 0 zones shown on the London map, in practice these are almost all areas in the middle of reservoirs. However, on the outer fringes PTAL 1 zones do occur. PTAL 2 levels of provision cover large areas of outer London so relaxing the rules there would have a major impact on traffic and pollution.
Bear in mind that even in PTAL 1 zones in London, public transport accessibility is extremely high compared with almost everywhere in the UK apart from some of the biggest cities. Bus stops and tube or railway stations might be further from people's homes than they are further in, and services might be less frequent, but unlike vast swathes of the UK bus services run seven days at week at comparatively frequent intervals and do not cease completely in the early evening. Therefore, able-bodied people without cars are not stranded, as they would be in most parts of the country.
Conclusions
Over the past fifteen years there has been a significant reduction in traffic levels in London, almost certainly a reflection of the tremendous improvements in tube and bus services that began when the congestion zone was introduced. These changes would certainly slow and potentially reverse this trend.
The vagueness of the new wording also opens up the scenario whereby housing developers might effectively "bribe" local councils to allow parking densities significantly higher than the current maximum of 2 for a 4-bedroom house. They would do this by making more generous Section 106 deals than they normally agree to.
Anyone concerned about air quality and traffic levels should therefore respond to the consultation and oppose the proposals.
Links
- The Consultation document
- Report on residential parking policy by the Outer London Commission - this describes the background to the proposals.
- Integrated Impact Assessment - this is an important document which explains the issues involved, the methodology used to assess the impact of changes to regulations, and the results of the impact assessment
- London Public Transport Accessibility map
