Club together on space

Planning, 11 January 2008

Car clubs: Increasing across London

The BedZed development in Sutton, south London, has gained wide- spread acclaim for its highly visible sustainable construction features. But it is its car club that has brought the greatest environmental benefits, rather than the heat exchangers or biomass boiler. The development of 84 flats has two car club parking bays and 40 residents are members.

Selling car-free housing to developers is becoming easier with the introduction of car clubs. These give prospective residents car use on a flexible basis when needed. According to the London Borough of Sutton, they also both reduce car use and encourage travel by other forms of sustainable transport.

The borough was one of the first authorities to introduce policies requiring developer contributions to car clubs. Last November it went further, adopting a supplementary planning document (SPD) setting out car club contributions, so reducing the need for protracted negotiations on individual planning applications.

On high-density schemes with limited parking, costs cover setting up a parking bay, provision of a car for a year and free membership for residents in the development for two years. "This will guarantee a level of funding for the operator and is likely to ensure a high level of use of car club vehicles," the SPD says.

Overall, the costs are estimated to be about £540 per unit. Developers are prepared to contribute because it allows them to put more homes on their sites, sustainable transport officer Alex Forrest explains. Access to a car club can increase housing densities by about 20 per cent, although a critical mass of development is required to justify a parking bay. The availability of good bus services and cycle routes are prerequisites for a successful scheme though, Forrest agrees.

There are currently around 40 car clubs in England with about 23,000 members and 750 cars. Numbers have tripled in the past two years. Three sizeable operators dominate - City Car Club, Streetcar and Whizzgo. Many local authorities have appointed one provider for their district through a tender process.

According to London Borough of Islington transport planning officer Eric Manners, who is a director of car club lobby group Carplus, the concept has gained most ground in London but Leeds, Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh are also making significant progress. But some smaller authorities' attempts to set them up have foundered because of lack of use.

Islington is close to achieving its objective of having a parking bay within five minutes' walk of every home. On-street bays are preferred to ensure visibility and to encourage take-up. At present, contributions are subject to individual negotiation with developers and the council has raised £180,000. It is now working on a sustainable transport SPD that will set out clear guidelines on the contributions required.

Contributions are needed most in the early years while use builds up. "To cover their costs, the cars need to be booked for 60 per cent of the time," Manners explains. "They should be distributed as widely as possible rather than being restricted to the residents of a particular housing scheme."

Bristol City Council has also put policies in place to secure contributions to car clubs and these are being taken forward in an SPD on sustainable transport. On housing schemes of more than ten homes with fewer than five parking spaces, the council requires house builders to contribute the costs of three years' car club membership for homes without parking spaces.

According to transport development control manager Matthew Cockburn, provision on this scale works out at around £540 per house. Bristol boasts around 1,000 members and about 30 car spaces.

Consultancy Addison & Associates is updating guidance on travel plans and the planning system for the Department for Transport. "Sustainable transport issues should not be an afterthought as part of the planning gain agreement once the outline of the development has been generally agreed," argues principal Lynda Addison. "They should be dealt with at the outset as part of the substantive planning application."

An increasing number of SPDs now set out how developers should assess the impact of their schemes and the sustainable transport packages required to tackle it. Car clubs can be an important tool in reducing car use, Addison believes.

"There will be agreement about the nature of provision required for a development at planning permission stage, but it will change over time. It needs to be kept under review," she advises.