This image (Green Street) shows drivers parking on designated areas, even when the parking spaces have dropped kerbs against the pedestrian path. This is because the use of tree zones and surface markings indicate clearly where to park.
This image (Trent Basin) shows a subtle way to provide clearly demarcated car parks.
The images below (in a Nottingham location) show badly designed parking. Drivers parking on grassed areas. This is because they might feel they need to leave sufficient space for cars parked on driveways to pull out, given that their on-plot parking spaces are so narrow, which means they need to manoeuvre on the street. Also, car parking spaces are not clearly demarcated.
2.5 Well designed car parking
The adequate number of parking spaces needs to be agreed at the Concept Design Stage with Nottingham City Council. A car parking strategy matching overall supply and its distribution across the site to forecast demand, taking into account the accessibility and location of the site, is important to the success of any residential development.
On-street parking can be legible and efficient if clear, dedicated spaces are provided to prevent drivers parking on footways. Street trees and planting should be used to balance the visual impact of parked cars. Allocated parking associated with individual dwellings is not permitted within the adopted public highway. Rear car parking courts will not be favoured, as they are unpopular with residents, lead to excessive on-street parking and are wasteful in terms of land take. People prefer to park near their front door. The Housing Design Guide provides further information on how to design car parking in an integral way, in relation to housing typologies and urban density.
Design Criteria
2.5.1 A car parking strategy shows the modality distribution in coordination with housing/land use typologies.
2.5.2 Court yard parking has been avoided and when necessary, it has been kept to a minimum, is well overlooked, directly connected to homes and secured.
2.5.3 Garages are well positioned so that they do not dominate the street scene (also see the Housing Design Guide).
2.5.4 A Traffic Regulation Order can be put in place to create ‘residents only’ parking areas.
2.5.5 Parking spaces dimensions follow this guideline.