sheddy said:
Are UK Local Authorities required to provide secure/covered cycle storage for new developments ?
I guess if a new house has a garage one can argue that that is sufficient, but what about flats and smaller houses ?
Also as a comparison, what are the best practice requirements in Denmark/Holland ?
the answer to your question comes in four parts - no, possibly, no, and no. And the real answer is be careful what you wish for....
No - Local authorities do not provide cycle storage for new developments. They may insist that the developer provides cycle parking and/or cycle storage, and that may be by way of an amendment to the approved drawings, or by way of a planning condition. Occasionally there may be a legal agreement, without which the development may not go ahead. Additionally a local authority can require the developer to produce a travel plan, which will be designed to encourage sustainable travel, or to make a financial contribution to cycling infrastructure, which is usually some pony bit of cycle lane going nowhere.
Possibly - All local authorities have to produce a Local Development Framework, which has to have sustainability written all the way through it. You might want to enquire of your own LA whether the LDF has clear stipulations on sustainable transport. A decent LDF will put cycling at the centre of their strategy.
No - cycle parking doesn't have to be covered or secure, although most LAs will insist on some kind of cover. But be careful what you wish for. There is one cycling officer in a south coast city who insists on individual stainless steel lockers, which turn housing developments in to oversized locker rooms and are ideal for the storage of drugs.
No - garages are not neccessarily good enough. Some local authorities require cycle parking in addition to garages.
And now for the reverse argument! By and large cycle parking for new residential developments is a bad thing. It is far, far preferable to design flats and houses in such a way that you can take bikes in to the flat and house hallways. Put it this way - if the lifts aren't big enough to take a bike, and the hallways aren't big enough to take a bike, what chance do you stand of getting a pram in there? And here's the rub - it's actually cheaper to supersize the lift and give space for storage inside the flat -and this is the strategy recommended by TfL BUT local authority employees need to show results by numbers, and some windswept cycle shed, or a corner of an underground car park is far more to their liking than a decent sized lift - even if the bike isn't really secure, or the underground car park is an invitation to crime.
As for Holland and Denmark - dunno, although it's apparent wandering round Holland that there are bike racks a-plenty
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