Policy information sourced from The Waltham Forest Local Plan Development Management Policies

DM16 Parking

The Council will seek to effectively manage parking and to ensure the provision of safe and attractive parking facilities by;

A) encouraging car-free and car-capped development in locations that are highly accessible by public transport; are accessible to opportunities and services, and/or have high levels of parking stress;

B) where a car-free and car-capped development is implemented, limiting on-site car parking for these developments to spaces designed for disabled people and operational and service needs and introducing controlled parking zones in the vicinity of the development; occupants of car free developments will not be issued with on-street parking permits;

C) resisting proposals that are likely to

  • hinder pedestrian movement or prove injurious to highway safety;
  • provide inadequate sight lines for vehicles leaving the site; and/or
  • reduce on-street parking provision in areas where on-street parking spaces cannot meet existing demand;

D) requiring development proposals to provide for well designed, high quality parking facilities in accordance with the Council’s maximum car parking and minimum cycle parking standards as set out in Appendix 4; as a general guide, the Council will encourage lower car parking provision than the stated maximum standards;

E) requiring development proposals to consider the provision of parking spaces in accordance with the following parking needs hierarchy:

  • disabled parking needs
  • car clubs
  • resident parking (low emission vehicles)
  • operational and servicing requirements
  • local business parking
  • short-term visitor parking
  • long-term visitor parking

While these priorities are granted for the borough as a whole, they may vary locally depending on development type, location and function of the specific street type.

F) requiring development to provide sufficient on-site facilities for operational or servicing needs and sufficient pick-up, drop-off and waiting areas for taxis, cars and coaches, where these activities are likely to be associated with the development;

G) requiring parking to be designed to be safe and secure, to achieve place-making objectives, to minimise land take and to minimise the urban heat island effect by providing adequate soft landscaping, permeable surfaces and other treatments to offset adverse impacts of surface water run-off;

H) requiring parking proposals in accordance with Policy DM29 (ix);

I) ensuring that one in five parking spaces (for both active and passive) provide an electrical charging point to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles in accordance with the London Plan; and

J) seeking contributions towards sustainable transport measures including the introduction of car clubs, Controlled Parking Zones, Home Zones and ‘DIY Streets’, pool cars, cycle hire schemes and public electric vehicle charging points.

For more information please see the Local Plan Development Management Policies