The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and The Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) have launched a new guidance note for residential parking aimed at professionals working in the highways and transport industry.

The new note offers those working in the planning, design and delivery of parking provision with the most up to date good practice residential parking guidance.

The issues surrounding parking provision and the inadequacies of it can inflame an entire community. This guidance note sets out advice and recommendations to help ease parking problems in residential areas.

Government policy has now placed a new emphasis on local decisions and a move in policy attitude to parking provision; with this changing landscape it has become apparent that a fresh approach is needed for advising and informing planners, highway engineers and developers.

Steve Spender, IHE President said, “Parking is a key issue for all communities, getting it right is not just about minimising conflict it is also about improving quality of life and better public realm provision. I commend these guidelines to our practitioners.”

The guide is split into five sections focusing on:

1.)    Residential parking policies and guidance
2.)    Issues affecting the interpretation of PPS3
3.)    Design issues, including minimum parking space sizes
4.)    Electric cars and car clubs and
5.)    Minor developments

David Gillham, CIHT President said, “We welcomed the opportunity of working with IHE on this important issue; whilst the sustainability and health agendas are very important ones, parking control is a blunt tool to deliver them and until we can offer good alternatives to the car to all our communities, we need to facilitate good parking design and provision. These guidelines are an excellent tool for our industry and we will be encouraging their adoption by local decision makers.” 

The new guide is available in electronic format only and can be downloaded by clicking here and on the IHE website www.theihe.org