MEETING OF COUNCIL - Town of Cambridge

COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2012
It is proposed that Council may consider reducing the requirement for car parking spaces up
to a total of 20 per cent where certain criteria are met including:-
• access to public transport;
• cycling facilities (in addition to those required automatically under the Policy);
• the development is in a centre location; or
• shared or reciprocal parking is available.
The provision of parking for motorcycles, scooters and gophers will provide an automatic five
per cent concession as part of the total 20 per cent concession.
Any such reduction must be outlined in the Parking Management Plan and Transport
Assessment.
Offsets for on-site parking bays for alternative parking and transport arrangements
The revised Parking Policy adds detail relating to alternative methods to offset on-site
parking requirements.
Shared Parking and Reciprocal Parking
Shared parking is where parking facilities on one site are shared concurrently by a mixed
use development or separate developments, for instance, where residential parking bays are
used by shoppers during the day as part of a mixed used development. Reciprocal parking is
where parking facilities serve separate uses or mixed use development but not shared
concurrently and not necessarily on one site, for instance, where people park in an office car
park to go to a restaurant at night.
Under the existing Parking Policy, legal assurances are necessary for shared and reciprocal
parking arrangements but this can be seen as a major impediment. Alternatively, the revised
Policy proposes to replace legal requirements with obtaining Council's agreement of
arrangements which would be detailed within Parking Management Plans (see below for
further comment on Parking Management Plans). This new approach is considered to
provide more flexible options to support shared parking. The revised Policy also provides
more guidance on calculating peak parking demand to assist owners and operators
determine the suitability of shared parking for their development and further detail to
describe locations for suitable reciprocal parking to quantify distances and provide safe and
direct access.
Cash in lieu of Parking
The existing Parking Policy provides cash in lieu provisions, however, until more recent
times this has not usually been applied, largely on the basis there has been no clear plan as
to how this money might be expended effectively. A further disincentive may be the high
cost imposition to developers, with cash-in-lieu required for the full value of land and
construction costs of parking.
The Access and Parking Strategy explored options for the collection of cash in lieu and
provided recommendations on the expenditure of cash in lieu funds including on-street
parking bays, consolidation of disconnected parking areas and contributions to improving
access and alternative transport initiatives in the Town including way-finding technologies
and multi-level car parking stations in the longer term.
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