Observations and comments from the Ealing Cycle Campaign regarding the Dickens Yard application for planning permission.

The application made by St George West London Ltd proposes: -

Residential Units 698 units

Shops 8079sqm

Restaurant / Cafe 961sqm

Office 139sqm

Health Spa / Community Use 1245sqm

Proposed staff, all other than ind. 549

Car Parks 583

(for residents) 281

(for shoppers) 301

Bicycle parks for residents 762

Bicycle parks for shoppers 40

Bicycle parks for staff None shown

A selection of drawings and documents were reviewed as the basis of these observations and comments. Amongst the drawings reviewed were the First Floor Courtyards, Ground Floor, Upper Basement, Lower Basement and other Selected written documents.

Observations and Comments

Shoppers Bicycle Parks

Bicycle parks for shoppers are shown on the ground and first floor drawings. Stainless steel Sheffield stands are indicated for shoppersπ use. They are of a very acceptable type well tried and tested and located reasonable conveniently. But the number of stands does not agree with the TfL Proposed Guidelines. The TfL Proposed Guidelines suggest 50 or so stands for shops, plus a further 10 for the Restaurants and cafes, 1 for the office, the Health Spa/Community Use is itemised by TfL which recommends 1 bicycle park for every 20 visitors at peak periods, amounting to approximately 9. Bicycle parks for shoppers shown on the drawings should therefore be doubled.

Staff Bicycle Parks

Health Spa/Community Use is itemised by TfL and recommends 1 bicycle park for every 10 staff, other shops and businesses 1 bicycle park for every 20 staff, therefore 549 additional staff should be provided with a minimum of 28 bicycle parking places.

Residentsπ Bicycle Parks

The proposal indicates that bicycle parks for residents are to be mainly provided in irregular shaped rooms located on both the upper basement and lower basement levels. A small number of parks are located in the general car parking area on the upper basement floor.

Access and egress to the bicycle parking areas, particularly the bicycle parking areas of the lower basement is difficult and potentially hazardous, requiring riders to negotiate ramps shared with residents and also shoppersπ cars.

In general the space allowed per bicycle is insufficient and little more than l sqm per bicycle, whereas the accepted norm is at least 1.6 sqm per bicycle.

The irregularly shaped bicycle storage rooms vary in size between 6 and 150 bicycle parking places. The rooms as proposed are to be fitted with single or double doors and unless automatic door activation is provided, will make access and egress unnecessarily difficult.

Although doors to the storage rooms would presumably be lockable, cycles and cyclist security would also be difficult and may be better achieved with segregated more open areas where CCTV would be easier to install and more effective.

A more comprehensive means of achieving better security would be to follow Ealing's Local Implementation Plan (Transport) 2007 and provide secure lockers for cycles and in view of the prestige of the proposed development Cycle Lockers would be a more appropriate solution.

TfL Proposed Guidelines recommend the appropriate number of cycle parking places dependent on the number of dwellings and the number of rooms in those dwellings. In view of Ealing's commitment to the promotion of cycling in the borough, the number of cycle parking places should match or better those guidelines.

Summary

Insufficient cycle parking places have been provided for shoppers.

Bicycle parking needs to be provided for staff.

A safe route should be provided to bicycle parking areas.

Bicycles need to be stored in appropriate space.

Security of cyclists and cycles requires improvement.

Bicycle lockers should be considered and incorporated as necessary.

Brian Smith for ECC June 2008