Councils will request you, the developer to submit a Car Parking Demand Assessment (CPDA) for most Planning Permit Applications when the development is not able to provide the required number of car parking spaces on-site. Car Parking Demand Assessments are developed around Clause 52.06 of the Planning Scheme where the car parking requirements are typically specified relevant to various land use types. 

As you submit your town planning drawings or your town planning application to the local council, your proposal is assessed against a number of Planning Scheme Clauses. A Clause that has a significant importance in many planning applications and also relates to traffic engineering is Clause 52.06. Table 1 of Clause 52.06 specifies the number of car parking spaces which must be provided for each land use type. Most land use types fit within these generic land use categories while some don’t. The ones that don’t fit within these categories must provide car parking to the satisfaction of the road authority. The latter category requires negotiation with the council which is best handled by experienced traffic engineers; like our team at RedSquare Traffic.

As your planning proposal is assessed against Clause 52.06’s parking requirements, the Statutory Planner in charge of your application will make an assessment as to whether your development provides sufficient car parking provisions to satisfy the Statutory Requirements (Table 1 of Clause 52.06). Where a shortfall is discovered, the Planner will request you to issue a Request for Further Information (RFI) which include a requirement to provide a Car Parking Demand Assessment in line with Clause 52.06-7.

For larger developments, Car Parking Demand Assessments are included in a broader assessment report called a Traffic Impact Assessment. So if you are asked for a Traffic Report, Traffic Assessment, Traffic and Parking Report, be aware that on most occasions this includes Car Parking Demand Assessments too. 

The general idea is to capture the demand for car parking spaces generated from your development. For residential developments, this includes car parking spaces for your residents and visitors. For retail developments, this is the demand generated for parking spaces from customers. For mixed-use facilities, this is a combination of residents, visitors and customers of your shops. Traffic engineers of RedSquare Traffic look at Planning Schemes applicable to your local Council to accurately determine the car parking space requirement applicable to your development. Our traffic engineer then works with your designer and/or planner to understand how many spaces your development can provide without sacrificing the building size. If we run into issues, we can also think about out of the box options such as Basement Car Parks. 

Often due to limited available space, providing car parking spaces to comply with regulations is not feasible. We understand you want to maximise the value of your development and that parking can erode the value by taking up too much space on your land. You can rely on a RedSquare Traffic Engineer to come up with various solutions to overcome this barrier. One such solution is to make an assessment of the existing transport network surrounding your development. Our traffic engineer’s assessment will assess and conclude your development can be access via other modes of transport such as buses or bicycles, not just cars. This reduces the demand for car parking spaces. Another manner is to make an assessment of street parking available in the vicinity. This would also help reduce the demand. We conduct Parking Surveys as a complementary service to facilitate this process.

Once everything is analysed and understood, a RedSquare Traffic Engineer will prepare a Car Parking Demand Assessment Report which will include;

• Description of existing conditions of the surrounding road network;
• Description of the proposed development;
• Review of applicable Planning Scheme clauses and Australian Standards;
• Car parking assessment against Planning Scheme clauses and Australian Standards;
• Parking surveys;
• Parking calculations i.e. Demand vs Available;
• Justifications for any reduction in car parking spaces; and
• A traffic engineer’s expert opinion on whether your development can handle the parking demand without adverse impacts.

When a comprehensive Car Parking Demand Assessment is accompanied with a Planning Permit application, there is an increased probability of your Planning Permit application getting approved without much hassle. RedSquare Traffic’s experienced traffic engineers are able to assist you throughout this process from start to finish. Give us a call today to find out how to get one arranged.

Key Output(s): Parking Demand Assessments, Parking Surveys