Council Minutes - Town of Cambridge

COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2011
It should be pointed out that should the plot ratio reduction be supported the required car
parking would be reduced by 5 car bays. If you then apply the 20% reduction the required
number of bays would reduce from 31 down to 27 bays i.e. a shortfall of 8 bays would exist.
The required cash-in-lieu therefore reducing also to $60,000.
Access
Parking and traffic are intrinsically linked. The number of parking bays and how the parking is
managed will affect traffic to and from the site. Therefore in agreeing to the number of parking
bays to be provided on-site, due regard should also be given to the traffic implications.
As the development is medium scale and predominantly office use, the traffic generated by the
proposed development can be accommodated by the standard and function of the surrounding
road network. The crossover to the main, ground floor car park is at a sufficient distance away
from the well-utilised roundabout on the corner of Railway Parade and Southport Street.
Furthermore, the proposed development has good accessibility by all modes of transport
considering the existing road network, footpaths and bicycle routes and public transport
coverage of the subject locality and the provision of end of trip facilities will support nonvehicular
modes of transport to the development. Of additional importance is that the proposal
is minimising the amount of car trips by providing a lesser number of car parking bays than
stipulated under the Scheme.
Policy 6.5: Precinct P5: West Leederville of the Town Planning Scheme Policy Manual states
that vehicular access should not be taken from Railway Parade. In addition, the development
controls of the West Leederville Planning and Urban Design Study state that:-
Any on-site car parking associated with new development shall be placed in car parks
either behind street front tenancies or fully below natural ground level, allowing level
(universal) access to the tenancies from the street.
New development must be set back from existing ROWs sufficiently to allow effective
widening of the carriageway to facilitate two-way vehicular traffic. (Public access rights
would be secured via an easement on the Certificate(s) of Title to ensure no loss of
private development rights).
The proposed development satisfies the first two dot points. The plans submitted show on-site
parking behind the street front café tenancy and also in an undercroft accessed from the
driveway easement of the adjoining No. 7 Southport Street (see details in ‘Neighbour’s
comment’ section above).
As previously described, the driveway easement of the adjoining No. 7 Southport Street is
proposed to be widened from 2.66 metres to 4.66 metres to allow two way traffic flow for the full
width of the rear of No. 156 Railway Parade. Whilst the easement will only be 4.66 metres (as
the ground floor overhangs), at the ground level, there will be a distance of 6.2 metres from the
north side of the easement to the edge of the undercroft bays, which is more than the minimum
requirement for two-way traffic and will provide adequate manoeuvring out of the undercroft
parking bays. This will greatly improve the safety of this easement, which is currently used by
three properties and will also be used to access the proposed undercroft parking bays of the
development. The existing crossover to this easement is also proposed to be widened to 6.2
metres.
One issue with the new crossover to the ground floor car park and the proposed widening of the
crossover for the rear driveway easement is that these crossovers may result in the loss of up
to three street parking bays on Southport Street. However it should be pointed out that the rear
driveway easement is encouraged for the benefit of not only this site but the adjoining 3 sites for
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