Permission had been granted in 2004 for the conversion of a hotel into seven flats. The planning obligation prevented occupiers from applying for a permit which would enable them to park within a controlled zone. The council stated that the site was located in an area with good access to public transport and retaining the restriction would foster more sustainable forms of travel. The appellant claimed that the objective was to prevent on-street parking and highlighted the fact that local streets were not unduly congested.
An inspector agreed that varying the obligation would not lead to undue parking pressure on local streets. However, this did not justify allowing the appeal since the council’s other objective was to discourage car use. Although some of the occupiers owned cars and parked outside of the restrictive area, this was also judged insufficient to vary the obligation. The appeal had to fail despite these considerations in order to seek to reduce journeys by private car.
Inspector Susan Heywood; Written representations
