Let's Talk About Parking And Highway Safety
The biggest problem for this proposed development, will be satisfying the parking requirement for a development of this size. Let's take a look at the standards and conditions that will have to be met for approval. and there are a number of standards that would need to be followed.
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
National Planning Policy Framework - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
So the council can't just ignore these, unless they wish to be subject to potential litigation:-
- Paragraph 114 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2023 seeks to ensure that safe and suitable access to a development site can be achieved for all users.
- Paragraph 115 of the Framework states that Development should only be prevented or refused on highways grounds if there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety, or the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would be severe.
- Paragraph 117 states that all developments that will generate significant amounts of movement should be required to provide a travel plan, and the application should be supported by a transport statement or transport assessment so that the likely impacts of the proposal can be assessed.
Havering Council Parking Standards For Places Of Worship
So this is well documented, and is based on the floorspace of the development, and equates to 1 parking space per 4m2 of floorspace, this calculation and standard has been applied strictly to a number of refused applications over the last two years.
Based on our calculations and measurements, the floorspace for the development is close to 3100m2, equating to a requirement of 780 parking spaces.
Parking At Home Base
So there has been a post on the Havering Mosque Instagram account claiming that worshippers will all park in Home Base, and use a walkway to enter the development site.
If you examine the aerial shot of the Homebase car park, it's 238 spaces + 4 disabled spaces, some way short of the required 780 spaces
Car Modal Share
So the latest National Travel Survey, is the standard best suited to assess how many parking spaces will really be needed/provided.
NTS 2023: Mode share and multi-modal trips - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The most striking table is this one, check out the modal split for 1-3 miles, 69% of journeys are made by car or private van.
Based on the floorspace for the prayer halls, we estimate that the maximum number worshippers could be as high as 2500. Using the modal car share at 69% that would suggest the need for parking for 1725 vehicles.
And any decision the council make, must be based on the maximum potential capacity of the development site.
Highway Safety And Trip Generation
So the pattern of worship in Islam is linked to the rising and setting of the sun. In planning terms this is unique, and brings with it a number of issues.
The current mosque have now been granted extended hours of use at the Waterloo Rd site:
- 06:00 to 21:30 1st October to 28th February
- 04:00 to 23:30 1st March to 30th September
- 04:00 to 00:30 for the month of Ramadan
Prayers take place 5 times daily, although many worshippers pray at home for the early morning and late night prayers. Friday prayers are busier, and the afternoon prayers attract huge numbers. This extract from a Car Parking Plan submitted with the application to extend the hours, shows the current demand.
Our estimate for the maximum number of worshippers that could attend the new Havering Mosque for a single prayer session is 2,500, potentially creating an additional 3450 trips on the local road network, creating traffic on Oldchurch Rd, congesting access to Queens, and impacting air quality locally.
And let's not forget that the new Romford Masterplan is seeking to reduce and slow traffic on the Ring Road.
With the limited parking locally , poor road design and the impact on the local amenity, this proposed development would be a disaster for Romford Town Centre.
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