Perhaps it was a slow news day on Saturday. The Times ran an article called ‘Big plans will finally ease parking squeeze’. Apparently “Ministers have supported a plan to increase the size of parking bays to keep up with the growing size of cars”. This is what facepalming on social media was made for, isn’t it?

I was once advised to respond to a new idea with three reasons why it might be good before immediately resorting to why it might not be a good idea. So here goes….

1. Ummmmm…..
2. Well….
3. Nope, give up.

Commentaries in the article suggest the move is sensible because side-impact protection is what has made cars wider thus justifying wider bays, and wider bays would also reduce damage from scratching of vehicles and (related) parking rage.

There is little further detail to go on at this point so perhaps there is method in the madness still to be revealed by said Ministers. But in the meantime, a few observations.

Back in 2016 the BBC ran an article (https://lnkd.in/e5W5Jjbs) called ‘Parking bays widened for bigger cars, says NCP’. Its opener was “Car parking spaces are having to be made bigger to meet the growing size of family cars and 4x4s, the UK’s largest car park provider has said”. Seems like this is a slow news day story after all, perhaps?

Mind you, in 2018 there was a No. 10 Petition to “Make UK standard parking spaces bigger” (https://lnkd.in/epygtP8W). It got a MASSIVE 40 signatures. Perhaps there has been a more recent groundswell of concern? Last year there was another No. 10 Petition to “Change planning guidance to increase parking space sizes” (https://lnkd.in/e_dQ2VGu). It got…..wait for it…. 26 signatures. Perhaps the signatories have friends in high places?!

Meanwhile over 20 months ago a DfT consultation finished on pavement parking (https://lnkd.in/eHiXA6Eh). Maybe increasing parking bay sizes is the result, alongside narrowing pavements (I mean who uses them anyway)? Only joking (?!) – the website STILL says ‘we are analysing your feedback, visit this page again soon to download the outcome to this public feedback’.

I appreciate that some people need bigger vehicles but this does not justify the gross normalisation of increasing vehicle sizes. And to accommodate them seems like madness in a climate crisis. Wouldn’t making parking bays in priority locations SMALLER to reward users of smaller cars make more sense (alongside increasing parking enforcement)? Better still reallocate space to active travel or placemaking, or maybe make parking bays even bigger and only for buses (!). Maybe bigger bays is a cunning plan to result in fewer bays?

Thankfully the photo below is from the US. Surely the UK would have more sense than to follow this lead in terms of further vehicle upsizing? If not then let’s futureproof those bays and make them even bigger to signal the progress to come??

#Parking